Seeing Who We Are
by SharonH
Summary: Marina came into her powers on her sixteenth birthday. Her family sends her to her father's alma mater, but she isn't the average student.
1. Chapter 1

I lost my sight a long time ago when I was six years old. I still remembered what colors were, and what different things were, but the memories were only vague now. The rest of my senses had been honed over the past ten years. Finely tuned I suppose you could say. The doctors really hadn't been able to tell me why I'd lost my vision. They'd only told me that it was getting increasingly worse. Funny, I could have told them that and saved myself and my parents the visit and the fee. There'd been nothing they could do for me. Not that I had expected much really. Even as a child I was practical.

I lived a relatively normal life. Went to school in a nice place; had good friends, and of course spent my summers at the pool. When I was sixteen all of that changed. I woke up to feel as if my entire body was encased in electrical currents. It terrified me. I remember screaming in agony. That day was my sixteenth birthday. It marked the day that I was no longer just a blind teenager. My body changed; I changed. My world changed.

Don't get me wrong, I still couldn't see…well, not exactly. My eyes were different though. I could sense things. Almost like seeing auras. Mostly gray or greenish shapes. I could easily tell when someone was approaching me. I could tell if they were male or female without them even speaking. Now of course some of this probably had to do with my other senses. For instance most guys have a heavier footfall than girls do. Also, perfume, cologne, and deodorant helped the determination. I would have just accepted it as those fine tuned senses, except for the fact that I seemed to have developed some other…talents. I started a fire in the fireplace in our living room by thinking about it. I was cold. I accidentally stuck my hand too close to the fire place, and it didn't burn me. I suppose that I should have been more suspicious when my parents didn't seem to freak out…AT ALL, at these new abilities. However, seeing as I was busy freaking out I suppose it didn't enter my mind to think about them.

They informed me that same evening that the following school year, my junior year, I would be attending a new high school. Gee, happy birthday to me. Instead of finishing up my final two years of high school with my friends, I was going somewhere new. A new place where people would probably try to trip me up. I could hardly wait to see what these people had in store for the blind girl. It would be a new place where I would have to learn my processes all over again. How many steps between each classes; what paths to take to avoid obstacles. It isn't the easiest thing in the world to be blind you know. Routine becomes imperative, and so I didn't understand why I had to change schools. That's when I got the spiel. My father was a superhero. I almost laughed, but I refrained. He went by the name of WeatherWatcher. Gee, was I impressed. So now I got to attend the same school he'd gone to as a teen. I, Marina O'Connor, was going to learn how to be a superhero. I was going to the place where I'd learn to control my powers. A place called Sky High. 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Don't know how good the story will be, but i hope it's good. **

**Hell-In-My-Life-- she isn't going to be a weather controller, so that's still up for grabs. lol. although, even if she did have those powers, i'd still say to write your own version. heck i love reading other people's ideas and stories.**

They told me that I should have inherited powers similar to my father, but I could control the weather about as much as I could control my vision. (yeah, not much). So I suppose I was a bit of an enigma to them. What we could tell at this point was that I had some type of night vision, seemed more like 24/7 vision seeing everything in gray and green outlines, I could see auras surrounding people in varying hues and colors, and I could start fires. I hadn't really figured that one out yet, but I'd get it eventually. I think. My Dad told me that some people could encase their bodies in flames, but he told me that I hadn't done that. It was just like I'd thought there should be a fire, and there was. When I'd touched the hot grate I'd been able to tell it was hot, but it hadn't hurt. Actually, it had felt pretty good.

The first day of school came and I prepared for it with a feeling of dread. Sure it was slightly better now that I sort of got outlines of stuff, but I would miss my friends dearly. At the new school I would be 'that blind girl', where as at my school I was just Marina. My Mom helped me get ready. She'd been a model before she and my Dad got together. I guess I was lucky for that. God, can you imagine what I would have ended up looking like having to depend on someone with no taste to help me pick out clothes and get dressed. My friend Kimmie had also been a big help over the years. So, luckily, Kimmie told me I didn't look like some thirty year old yuppie. I guess no teenager wants to look like a thirty year old yuppie? I really didn't remember much about styles from when I was six. Clothes hadn't been all that important to me back then. Mom told me I looked beautiful. She's a little biased though. Kimmie stopped by before she headed to school and she told me I looked awesome. I'll trust her. It wasn't like I'd dressed up or anything. I knew I was wearing cargo pants, and Mom told me they were olive green. I'd loved olives when I was little so I remembered what they looked like. I wore a spaghetti strap tank top that was black, and a black zippered hoodie a Metallica logo on it. I'm a music fiend. My Nike's completed the picture. See, nothing fancy. I guess you might like to know what I look like. Gee, so would I…no seriously, I'm 5'8", I know this because my doctor is forever measuring me, I'm a little thinner than I should be, and my Mom is constantly riding me to eat eat eat. Being sixteen pretty much tells you that at this point I'm just now getting curves. Yeah, they're okay. Kimmie says guys are always checking me out. Whatever. I keep my hair short. Long is just too much of a hassle, and it's pale blonde and curly. Kimmie assured me it didn't look like Felicity's when she got her mane cut off, but was way cuter. How the heck was I supposed to know what she was talking about? She really had to stop watching the WB. I'm sure the hair looks fine. The important part is that all I have to do is run my hands through it and it's done. What can I say, good genetics; my parents are lookers.

Mom walked me to the bus. It was odd 'seeing' things now. Outlines of her face, and Kimmie's face. Just odd. It was also odd realizing that my father and the famous WeatherWatcher were the same. I'd heard about the hero all while growing up, and frankly I couldn't believe they'd never told me! That's my life, one big bit of oddity. The bus stopped and I got on. I could feel them staring at me, but I didn't pay it any attention. 'Looking' around I found the outline of an empty seat near the back, and I sat in it quickly. There were whispers as soon as I sat down. Amusingly enough they weren't whispering about me. They were whispering about the boy I'd sat down next to. I actually heard someone towards the front say I was brave. Powers or not, why should I be scared of a teenage boy? I'm sure I'd known my share of rude, or mean, boys. Still, I suppose they were whispering for a reason, which meant he probably sat by himself most of the time. I'd known others like that.

I turned towards him slightly. I felt the hostility rolling off of him, and his aura was reddish, which I took as anger. See I'm getting the hang of this whole reading auras business. "I apologize for sitting here. I'll try to find a different seat in the future." I told him politely.

Another boy leaned back towards us. I could tell by the deodorant, kind of sick I know, but hey use what you got. "Don't mind him. Warren tends to be a bit grouchy at times." The voice was friendly enough. "I'm Will Stronghold." he introduced himself, and I sensed him reaching his hand out to shake.

I shook his offered hand and smiled at him. "I'm Marina O'Connor. Stronghold? Are you the son of The Commander and Jetstream?"

I 'saw' the change in his aura; he had started out a vibrant blue, and interestingly enough it was almost a pinkish hue, which I took to mean he was blushing. "Yeah, those are my folks."

I nodded. "I've heard that they do great things." When I left it at that I think he was slightly surprised. There was a girl sitting next to him and she turned towards me. From the outlines I was picking up I got the feeling she was lovely, and her aura was a vibrant blue as well. I'm thinking that blue means happy. I think.

"I'm Layla. Are you a freshman?"

"No, I'm sixteen, so I'm a junior this year. My parent's didn't realize that I would manifest powers otherwise I would have started here two years ago."

"Lucky you missed it!" Another boy interjected. He was wearing cologne, and seemed to shine a little brighter than the others.

"Oh?"

"Villains took over the school and turned all of the adults into babies." A girl's voice came from beside the shiny boy.

All talk stopped abruptly as we arrived where we were going. Funny, I had barely noticed that we'd flown to get there. New experience; riding on a flying bus. I turned to the boy I'd sat down next to. "I'll move to a different seat so you can get out."

"Why don't you just get off the bus?" he asked snidely.

I had started digging into the pocket of my backpack. "Because I don't want to trip over anything, and that's easier if everyone else is off."

"Trip? What are ya blind?" I almost laughed, his tone was so sarcastic.

I stood up and moved so he could slide past. As I did so I extended my white cane to its full length. "Actually yes I am." He didn't say another word and his aura shifted to a pale color. Ahh, so Grouchy could feel bad. Once the bus was empty I headed down the aisle and out into the sunlight. I headed directly to the bright outline of an older woman.

"Welcome Marina, I'm Principal Powers." the woman greeted me warmly. "Let's get you to the gym so Coach Boomer can have a look at what you can do." The Principal moved slowly so that I had no difficulties following her.

"Principal Powers, am I the first blind student you've had here?" I asked.

She seemed to think about it for a moment. "I seem to remember one other student about thirty years ago. But that person had telepathic powers. Besides, now can you really consider yourself blind? You have your own form of lie detector. You could do great things with that."

I shrugged, "Sure if I figure out what else I can do."

"Well, that's why you're here isn't it?"

She left me in the gym with Coach Boomer. I really found him to be quite….unique. He labeled me Hero. Like it matters. It seemed that the sidekicks got just as much respect, although he told me that it wasn't always like that. It seemed fair to me. Hey, if you got powers, ANY powers, that should be worth something, right?

Coach sent me off to my first class. Turned out that it was some type of science. They were building something. Oh, sure, I'm positive that'll be good at this…note the sarcasm. The teacher told me his name was Mr. Medulla. The outline of him that I 'saw' showed he had a HUGE melon. Thank god I hadn't gotten that. I was seated at a table with three people already at it. I recognized both the scents and the auras.

"Hi Marina! How's your first day going?"

"It's going okay so far Layla. Thanks for asking." I smiled at the girl. "I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help putting stuff together."

"That's okay, we'll help you out." Will told me.

Grouchy just grunted. I ended up enjoying the class. Will and Layla were a lot of fun, and it was so obvious that they were a couple. Warren, aka Grouchy, only spoke briefly, and I was a bit startled when Will referred to him as best friend. I guess opposites attract. Layla compared our schedules and found that we were in all the same classes. I figured Principal Powers must have done that on purpose. Help the new kid make friends. For the most part the day went well. There were a few times that I saw auras that frightened me, but I wasn't there to make judgment calls. I'd heard Principal Powers speech. They were here to help us learn to use the powers, not tell us how. I just made sure to stay out of the vicinity of those people. Will and Warren were in a few of my other classes, but I didn't really get a chance to speak with them again. Not that Warren would have spoken to me anyway. The last class of the day was gym. They had a regular game they played called Save the Citizen. How it was explained to me was that it was two against two. Two heroes and two villains. The heroes had to save the citizen, which was a dummy hanging over a shredder, and the villains had to stop them.

Layla dragged me with her to sit with a group made up of both Heroes and Sidekicks. Two of the darkest auras I'd seen so far were in the arena competing in that day's game. They faced off against two seniors and from the gasps and groans I think they made it look easy. I felt a cold sweat wash over my body as I saw the dark gray aura approaching me.

"Well, what do we have here?" A deep pitched voice asked. "A new girl. Baby, don't you realize you're sitting with the wrong group? A pretty little thing like you should be sitting with us." He leaned towards me. "I'm Max, what's your name?"

"Hi Max, I'm Marina, and I think I'm fine where I am. Thanks anyway though." I told him in a clear voice. His aura was touching mine and it was making me feel slightly ill. It helped me understand though. There had been times when I was growing up that I'd felt the same. Maybe they hadn't fully come into play, but my powers had been with me even then.

"Why don't you get lost Von Schilne." Warren's voice grated out of his throat, and I could tell the two boys didn't get along at all.

"Peace, I don't believe I was talking to you." Max Von Schilne said scathingly to Warren.

"I don't really care who you were talking to. Get. Lost." Warren had stood and I felt the heat flickering. The others moved away, not wanting to get burned, but the fire called to me. I know how crazy that sounds, but it's true. I felt the heat wash over me and it felt so good. I moved slightly closer. In doing so I put myself between the two. I felt heat coming from Max as well. They both had fire abilities. Max threw a blast at Warren, I felt it. It was almost like slow motion, as if my body knew what to do without me knowing what to do. I reached out and caught the fire. Everyone gasped, and I felt the waves of shock from both Warren and Max.

I stood holding the flame in my hands. Max's fire wasn't as powerful as Warren's, but it was powerful. Without thinking I made the flame grow within my palms. People backed away from me, and the fire. I didn't know if I frightened them, or they just didn't want to get burned. Whichever it was they were scared.

"What's going on here?" I heard Principal Powers but didn't move. She stopped near us. "Marina, can you put that out?" she asked me gently.

I stared at the outline of Max, and he moved backwards with a gasp. I looked over to Warren, and felt his gaze, but he didn't shrink back from me. I concentrated and made the flames smaller, then I cupped my hands together and blew into them softly extinguishing the lovely flames.

"Good, that's really good Marina." she told me with relief edging her words.

Layla told me later that as I held the fire, and as it grew, my sightless eyes had changed. They'd burned with the same fire that I'd held in my hands. Pure black with orange fires licking upwards. Guess I was learning something new every day…


	3. Chapter 3

My Dad seemed extraordinarily pleased that I had met Will Stronghold. I just shrugged. They were just other kids to me, although it was nice to have friends right away. If I could call them friends. Kimmie came over right after dinner. We hung out and listened to some music. She was trying to talk me into going on a blind, bad pun, date with her over the weekend. Our friend Jessie wanted to hook her up with his cousin Jeremy, but Jeremy's friend Caleb was going to be with him. Kimmie must have seen a picture of this Jeremy guy, because she was putting the pressure on. I asked her if it was going to bug the guy that his date was blind, but she said that she would make sure he knew ahead of time. Great, I'm sure I'll have a swell time. I finally agreed, but just for Kimmie. I mean, seriously, she was a great friend to me.

My second day of school came, and this time I was lucky enough to get a seat in front of Warren. His aura wasn't as red this morning, I suppose that was good, right? Heck, I don't know. Right now we could shake the Magic 8 Ball and probably get a better response. Shiny boy was staring at me. I could feel it. So I turned to him and stared. I knew it would eventually make him feel uncomfortable, even though really since I could focus so well it was difficult to tell that I was blind. "Can I help you?"

"You don't seem blind." he said curiously.

I awarded him with a smile. "Thanks I think."

His blue aura turned pink. I was pretty sure blue was happy, or content, and the pink was embarrassed. "I just meant it seems like you're looking at me, and that you see me."

"Well, I am looking at you. I can't really 'see' you, and before my birthday I couldn't see anything at all."

"What happened on your birthday?" the girl, I learned her name was Magenta, asked.

"I woke up in pain." I said softly, remembering the fear and hurt. "Then instead of nothing I could see outlines, like gray and green. I've been told it's similar to night vision goggles, only not as clear. And I saw colors." I smiled at that. I had missed colors. "Auras. Everyone has one. Depending on your mood, attitude, or personality, they shift and change."

"Cool." this came from Will.

"It'll probably be cool when I figure out what each color means." I laughed. I didn't mind their curiosity. At least they wanted to know, and asked instead of ignoring me. Some people wouldn't feel so comfortable around a girl like me. "Could I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Will answered me.

"What does it look like outside? As we fly, what does it look like?" I couldn't keep the small wistful note out of my voice. The others got quiet.

"Well, it's blue, and the clouds are white…" Will started.

"It's a bright blue like the blue of a swimming pool." Warren interrupted. "So clear that it makes you want to try to scoop up pieces of it in your hands."

"I remember that color." I told him.

"And the clouds seem like thinly spun white cotton candy, or spider webs. There really aren't any thick fat clouds out today." he continued. "If you look down you can faintly see green and dark specks that look almost like little ants and sticks."

I could almost see it in my mind. I remembered the sky; I remembered all of the things he'd mentioned. "Thank you." He didn't say anything, just grunted, and moved down the aisle. I hadn't even realized we'd landed. Layla and I headed to our lockers, and then onto our first class. I spent most of the class feeling the different parts. It might sound silly to you, but if I felt things long enough than I'd recognize them later. If it got to a point where I could recognize them well enough, well then if someone gave me verbal instructions I might be able to put something together. Of course I wouldn't stand to close to my table while I was doing so, but hey at least I was willing to try.

Right before lunch Layla walked with me back to my locker so that I could drop off my books and grab my food. I felt him before I saw him. "Hey pretty lady." Max said from behind me. Luckily the locker was already open, so I didn't have to fumble with the lock. He leaned next to me with his shoulder on the locker.

"Hello Max." I said quietly.

"I'd like for you to come eat lunch with me."

"She's eating with us Max." Layla said, almost angrily.

"Wouldn't you rather meet some new people? I mean, sure it's nice to know Stronghold and his buddies, but seriously, isn't it important to make lots of new friends?"

"Maybe I'll see you around school." I suggested. "Right now I'm hungry, and Layla and I were on our to lunch." The deep gray aura was turning a darker red. Anger and heat roiled off of him, and I took a step back.

"I'll talk to you later Baby, maybe when you don't have so many people around?" he pushed off from the lockers. That's when I noticed that Will, Zach (aka Shiny boy), Warren, Magenta, and another kid who I believed was called Ethan. All of their auras were blending, and looked amazing. They were all turning the same red that seemed to live on Warren. Obviously none of them liked Max Von Shilne. "C'mon Carl." he said to his buddy that was standing with him. It was the same guy that had been in the arena with him. They walked away from me, and I immediately felt better.

"He makes me sick to my stomach." I told the group.

"Yeah, us too." Magenta said.

I shook my head, "No, I mean it. Whenever he comes near me I feel sick to my stomach, and my flesh crawls."

Layla threw her arm around my shoulder and tried to lighten her tone. "Let's go eat. I'm starving!" I didn't point out that I could tell she was still angry, or worried. It was easy for them to forget that I saw what they didn't. Just as much as they saw what I couldn't.

The rest of the week passed without any major incidents. A pattern developed that I sat with them on the bus, sat with them at lunch, and pretty much hung out with Will and Layla's group of friends almost the entire time I was at school. Friday came and we were sitting at lunch. I found it amusing that Warren sat with the group every day, but didn't really speak. It was almost as if he just grudgingly accepted it. There had to be a story there, and hopefully one day they'd share it with me. He did joke back and forth with Will somewhat. Again I was struck by the oddity that their friendship was. Boy, I didn't know the half of it.

"So what are you doing tonight Marina?" Layla asked me.

I mumbled to her. "gngblnddt."

"What language was that?" Zach laughed.

I could feel Layla staring at me, and waiting. I sighed. "I'm going on a double date with my friend Kimmie."

"Oh, did you go to school with the guy before you came here?" Layla asked.

"No." Fine, I was just going to say it. "It's a blind date." Zach started choking on his soda, and Will tried to hide a snicker. "Go ahead, everyone laugh. I know it's funny." I couldn't help it. The laughter was infectious and I started laughing. I think Warren even grinned. "I'm only doing it for Kimmie. She really wants to go out with this guy, but his friend is with him, so she roped me in."

By the time Kimmie got to my house that night all I wanted to do was to back out. I hadn't been out on a lot of dates, and hadn't been on any since my birthday. She picked out my outfit. The top was purple and made of filmy material, it only had one strap that attached on my right shoulder leaving my left shoulder bare. She had me wear my black low rider jeans with it, and then I chose my black ankle boots. She told me I looked great. I didn't really care. I just wanted to make it through dinner with Caleb, and then maybe I could plead a headache and go home. They wouldn't keep the blind girl out if she was in pain would they? I know, I'm pathetic, but I'll do what I have to. I'm sure I should be excited about going out on a date, but could this really be termed a date? I mean it isn't like I know him. He didn't even ask me out. Well, maybe we'll both be miserable, and laugh about it together. Here's hoping…

Okay, so he isn't miserable. And he keeps touching the small of my back and my hands. He's wearing cheap cologne that reminds me of formaldehyde. He didn't seem to care that I'm blind, and his aura keeps turning a pulsing purple whatever the hell, I mean heck, that means. I just kept a pleasant smile on my face. Jeremy seemed like a nice guy, and Kimmie seemed happy. We got to the restaurant and I was at least happy to smell delicious food. Maybe I'd chew with my mouth open. That would disgust him right?

"Where are we?" I asked, since it appeared no one was going to enlighten me. You know, the girl who couldn't READ. Well, I could read before I went blind, but I think you get the picture.

"The Paper Lantern." Kimmie said, and I could hear the happiness in her voice. I am the worst friend ever. "It's Chinese food."

"Yes, I know Kimmie, I can smell it." I laughed. Luckily when we sat down Kimmie sat on the same side of the booth as I did. Which put Caleb and Jeremy across from us. We ordered our food and the two boys proceeded to try to outdo each other with ridiculous jokes. Jeremy had a nice aura, nice and blue to match Kimmie's. Caleb's aura would turn blue, then back to the pulsing purple.

We sat and talked for awhile after dinner, and Jeremy asked if he could take Kimmie home since she had to go. Kimmie pinched me under the seat, and I sighed. This meant I was getting stuck with Caleb. "I'd really like to finish my drink, but you guys could go ahead and take off." I said through a fake smile.

"I'll stay with her. You know. Keep her company, make sure she gets home okay." Gee, lucky me. In less than five minutes they were gone. "So, were you wanting to be alone with me as much as I was wanting to be alone with you?" the tone of his voice was like out of a bad movie.

"No, I just wanted to finish my drink." I told him, and took a big gulp. I wondered if they'd come give me a refill. Caleb seemed to be inching closer to me, and I had a bad feeling he was going to try to kiss me. I leaned back away from him. He leaned forward. I leaned back. I was against the vinyl seat, there was no more going back for me. Oh geez. Maybe I should kick him in the shins….

"Well, hi Marina." I knew that voice. What was Warren doing here? I turned towards him and made sure to give him a brilliant, and very thankful smile.

"Hi Warren, how are you?"

"Good, just working."

"Oh." I was surprised. "I didn't know you worked here."

"No reason you would." he said, but it wasn't rude. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Caleb. He's friends with my best friend's date. They had to leave." I could see Warren extend his hand and Caleb took it. I also saw the change in aura, and Warren must have done something to his hand because Caleb jumped away and shook it painfully.

"You been handling hot plates man? Your skin is burning up." Caleb snapped.

"Oh sorry."

"You ready to take off Babe?" Caleb asked in a pissy voice.

"Oh…" How did I get out of this one?

"Ya know Marina, I just got off work, I could take you home if you needed a ride. Seeing as we live so close to each other." Warren offered.

There is a God. "That would be great Warren. Thank you so much. Wow, Caleb that works out for the best doesn't it? Especially since you need to go the other way?"

"Sure." he said in a disgruntled tone. His aura was a reddish tone now. Oh well. "We'll see ya later Marina." he told me and was gone soon after.

I sagged in relief. "Oh you'll never know how grateful I am that you did that. But you don't have to see me home. I can get there." He just stood there staring at me. O-kay. "So, ready to go?"

"Yep." 


	4. Chapter 4

We walked in silence until we approached the outline of a motorcycle. "Um, gee, is this your bike?" I asked. I'm sure I sounded like an idiot since we were standing right next to it, but…

"Yeah, I got it after finals in May." He told me. I could hear the pleasure in his voice, and my goodness, his aura was almost blue. Obviously the bike was well loved.

"I've never ridden a bike before." I told him bluntly.

"Oh." He seemed a little surprised. I could see by his outline that he'd already mounted the bike, and now he was looking at me. "Okay, well why don't you hold onto my arm here." He finally told me and offered me his arm. I grasped the leather clad appendage, and very carefully eased my leg onto the bike behind him. He handed me a helmet, and turned slightly to speak. I could feel every movement he made. "Hold on to my waist now. Where do you live?"

I gave him the address and he started the bike with a loud rumble. Good lord, I thought it would vibrate me off the seat. I held on to him for all it was worth. There was no way I was explaining to my parents that I was in the hospital because I fell off of a motorcycle. Yeah, they'd love that one.

It was exhilarating riding on the bike. I could only imagine the rush of actually controlling it. Just something else I'd never get to do. Don't worry, I'm not feeling sorry for myself. What would be the point? It wouldn't change anything. The wind whipped across my face, and I laughed at the feel. It was almost like being in the middle of a severe thunderstorm without the water. The tips of his shoulder length hair brushed across my cheeks occasionally, but I didn't mind. He smelled good. Not that I was smelling him or anything like that. That wouldn't be too odd though, would it? I mean I had never really been that close to a boy before, well except for the time that Greg Adams kissed me our freshman year of high school at a dance. We were outside. He would have probably kissed me again, but it had started pouring down rain. Back to Warren, keep in mind I have exceptional smelling. Never mind.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway I took off the helmet and got off the bike. My front door opened within seconds. Oh god, the parentals are going to want to be introduced. Well, Warren would never be nice to me again. From the way the breeze picked up I figured it must be my father…wait a minute, my Dad was WeatherWatcher. It hit me then that he'd probably been responsible for the rain that stopped Greg Adams from kissing me again. I would deal with that later.

"Hi Daddy."

"Hi Sweetie, who's your friend?" I figured he'd be curious since I left with Kimmie.

"This is Warren, Daddy. We go to school together. He was working and offered to bring me home when my date wasn't being a gentleman." Ooooh, Dad's aura got a little red there.

"Warren, thank you so much. Why don't you come inside for a few minutes? I think it's going to rain." The way he said it made me sigh. Whether Warren knew it or not, he was coming inside.

"Warren, why don't we put your bike in the garage so it doesn't get wet?" I told him sweetly. He wheeled it into my garage and almost as soon as we got into the house the rain began to fall. See, this is why I don't date. Just bad luck with me and guys. Although, I'd never realized Dad was the one causing the weather issues.

My Mom came out of our kitchen and I could tell by her aura she was smiling. My parents were always telling me I looked just like Mom. Same silky blonde hair that curled recklessly. Same lavender eyes. She'd been quite the model before Dad hooked her. I remember when I was little I always hoped I'd grow up to look like her. I remember how beautiful she was. Now I don't know if they're telling me the truth, or just letting me believe that. I guess it doesn't really matter. I stopped out of habit as soon as my hand hit the railing on the wall. Our house was only one level, which made everything easier for me. We'd moved in shortly after I'd lost my sight. Holding onto the rail I turned back towards Warren. I would never leave him alone with them; they were nice people but I wasn't that cruel. He didn't want to be here, he'd just been doing a good deed for a classmate. "Follow me Warren."

"It's so nice to meet a friend of Marina's." My mother said in a warm friendly voice. "Would you like something to drink?"

'Um, no, no ma'am." He stammered slightly. New experience for him too I guess.

"So tell us Warren, who are your parents? What's your name?" My Dad continued. And so the interrogation begins.

"Warren Peace."

"Never mind. I know who your parents are. I worked with your Mom before. Good woman." Dad said a bit gruffly. "You and your friends saved the school two years ago?"

"I guess." Warren answered Dad with a bit of suspicion in his voice. I wouldn't trust the man either, and he's my father.

Dad must have made some motion because Warren seemed to relax slightly. "Good. I'm glad to know that Marina is hanging out with kids like you and Stronghold. I also appreciate you bringing her home."

"It wasn't a problem sir. She didn't seem to be enjoying herself once her friend left." Warren spoke quickly. They spoke for a few more minutes and Warren seemed to relax more and more. I bet he'd rather take a trip to the dentist.

"I think the rain is stopping Honey." Mom said lightly.

"I'll walk Warren out." I stood quickly and headed for the front door. It wasn't until I reached the door that I realized I hadn't used the railing. I had relied on my new vision to guide me. It had worked well. I smiled delightedly to myself. I led Warren to the garage.

"That was a freak thunderstorm." He said and I could see the outlines of his frown.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Dad gets a bit overprotective sometimes."

"OH, I forgot your dad could do the weather stuff." His aura was blue, not the same blue that I normally 'saw' on Will or Layla, but there wasn't a hint of red in it. "You need to be more careful in the future. Don't be going out with guys like that."

"Oh trust me I never have any intentions of seeing Caleb again." I laughed. "Besides I don't really date. I just did it for Kimmie. Thanks again for the ride. I'll see you at school on Monday." I listened to him ride away and smiled. Wasn't so grouchy after all.

Kimmie felt horrible on Saturday when she called me. She'd had a great time with Jeremy, and he'd asked her out again. When she asked me how it went with Caleb I told her I'd rather eat shattered glass. I think she understood. She apologized so many times, it finally got embarrassing. I told her it was fine and that Warren had brought me home. She started making those noises; you know the ones, Ohhhh, who's Warren? Yeah, I told her to knock it off since it wasn't like that.

She talked me into going to the mall with her. It was interesting when we got there because I didn't need to use my cane. I had it with me just in case, but I was getting good at the outline game. I 'saw' some interesting things there too. Like, I saw someone with an aura that was huge. It was like a ten foot radius of vibrant blue. That's much larger than most people. I also saw someone with hardly any aura at all. When I asked Kimmie what the person looked like she told me he was an incredibly old little man.

We'd come to the mall so she could buy a new outfit for her next date, but we both ended up buying stuff. I bought a couple of CD's, some white cargo pants that Kimmie said looked hot, a new tank top, and a mesh tank to go over it. The tanks were both dark purple, according to Kimmie, and the solid tank had a silver dragon across the front. I love dragons. Actually, I have quite a collection of them. Silly, scary, happy; they run the gamut. It makes it easier to shop for me I think. I really don't know why I like them so much, but I had a stuffed dragon when I was little. Oh, and when I was losing my sight some of the last things I remember were dragons. I can still picture them if I try really hard.

I wore my new outfit to school on Monday. I hoped it looked as good as Kimmie said it did. Mom seemed to like it, but I think Dad wasn't very fond of it. He wanted me to put on a sweater. He doesn't know I heard, but when I was leaving the room I heard him ask Mom when I'd started developing. Couldn't you just die? As if I want my FATHER to talk about me hitting puberty. Damn, I mean darn… I guess that meant I looked okay.

Someone had taken my seat on the bus. I was going to move to the very back of the bus, but Will called me back and told me to sit next to Warren. When I looked at Warren's aura it didn't seem so angry. "Is that okay with you?" I asked politely.

"Yeah." He told me shortly.

"How was your date Friday Marina?" Layla asked enthusiastically.

"It was horrible, and sucky." I told her honestly. "First we went to a laser light show at the IMAX. Which was fine since they were playing Metallica. Then we went to eat. At both the show and in the car he wouldn't keep his hands to himself. Kimmie and her date left, and she left me with Caleb. I was about to kick him in the shins when Warren helped me out."

"So, you're saying I should have waited another minute before interrupting?" He asked me in his gruff voice.

It made me laugh. "Sure, then he'd have a hurt shin and a hurt hand."

"I love the Paper Lantern." Layla sighed. She must have done something else because Will sighed next.

"Fine, we'll go this weekend." He muttered. She let out a little squeal, and I could see their auras merging.

"Is she hugging him?" I asked.

Warren made a disgusted noise. "When aren't they hugging?"

During our science class Mr. Medulla came over to see what I'd been doing. He seemed impressed that I was learning the different parts by touch and feel. He decided that part of my training would include my friends quizzing me on the different pieces. Great, because I already felt so confident in my abilities. Thank you Doctor Genius.

Most of the day went fine. The only bad point came when we got to gym to find out that there was another Save the Citizen game scheduled for that day. I hated Save the Citizen days. I know that sounds horrible, but I did. I couldn't see anything but outlines that seemed to be constantly moving. Also, it's when I was in the vicinity of the most unappealing auras. There really weren't that many that made me ill; I could probably count them on both hands, but I hated the feeling.

Max must have been waiting for us because he and his buddy Carl flanked our sides as soon as we entered the gymnasium. Carl didn't make me as sick as Max did, but with both of them there I was not feeling well. "Hey Marina, how are you this fine day?" He asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

"I'm good Max, how are you?" I tried to be as polite as possible feeling as I did.

"Someone told me you were out with Peace this past weekend." He kept his voice pleasant, but there was an undertone to it that I didn't recognize.

"Oh? Not really. He gave me a ride home when my date went bust, but that's about it." I continued in my polite voice.

"That's good. Too bad about the date though." I could actually hear the grin in his voice.

"Oh, I'm not worried about it. I don't date much."

"We'll have to change that." Max had the utmost confidence, and it laced his words like poison.

"Sorry, just not much of a dater." I told him slightly more coolly this time. "I'd better go. They're going to start the game soon." Layla and I hurried away, but I felt him watching me.

"Those guys bugging you?" Will asked as soon as we sat down near him and Warren.

I didn't realize I was shivering slightly. "Nothing that won't go away eventually, right?"


	5. Chapter 5

When I got home from school that afternoon my Mom told me that books I'd special ordered had come in. I was psyched. They were books on auras and chakras. I figured that what I was seeing must have something to do with this stuff, so I thought what the hey? Why not give it a read? Of course I had to wait for them to come by mail because I had to special order the Braille editions. I figured I would read these books and they would help me utilize the vision thing better. So I curled up in one corner of the sofa and read one of the books for an hour, and then put it aside for the next book. Well, the only thing that I'd read that came close was that gray auras stood for dark thoughts or the presence of a dark side to a personality. Everything else was way off from what I was seeing. So, either I was misinterpreting what I was seeing, or these books had nothing whatsoever to do with my new found talents. Disgusted I pushed the pile away from me.

"What's wrong Marina Rhiannon?" Mom said from where she was reading in her corner of the couch.

"None of this matches what I see Mom. Well, not much of it." I said morosely.

"What do you mean?" she asked me and scooted closer to me on the couch.

"This whole thing on auras. The only thing that matches is the color gray, and even then it's not really gray, what I see, it's a strange putrid gray. But like, when I look at Will or Layla, I see blue, and I know they're happy, but the book tells me yellow means joy. And when I see red around Warren, I know he's angry, or grouchy, but this book says anger is sulfur color. None of it is right." I felt close to tears. I'd had so much hope for these books.

"Sweetie, have you ever considered that maybe what you have isn't necessarily reading auras?" she told me and then hugged me with one arm.

I sniffled. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe we're calling it auras because that's just a convenient word for it. Tell me what you see?"

"Well, Like I see blue around Will, and then if he gets embarrassed it turns pinkish. Or Warren is red, but then it settles down almost as his friends tease or cajole him. Caleb was a pulsating purplish color the other night. And when you and Daddy start laughing it's a vibrant blue, sort of like Will and Layla."

She seemed to think for a moment. "Okay, well maybe what you're doing is reading their feelings. But because of your blindness your body is compensating and giving you an extra boost. That way you aren't just reading feelings and then trying to figure out who they go with. Your eyes are giving you the ability to place the feelings." That made sense to me. Gosh, I love my Mom. She's so smart.

"So, really, I just need to pay attention to people around me and figure out what the colors stand for according to my eyes?"

"Exactly." she said and I felt her smile on the top of my head. "Your eyes aren't the same as some old book, or even the same as these people who say they see auras. This is your own special gift Marina."

"So, how does the fire thing tie into it? And the new outlines thing?"

"Well, I think the outlines are because you are able to see colors now. Without the outlines you would just have great big blobs of color swirling around." Good point, she definitely had a good point there. "Honestly, I don't know how the whole fire control thing fits, but I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. You're a smart girl, daughter of mine. Everything will sort itself out."

"Thanks Mom."

"You are more than welcome my love." she kissed the top of my head. "Now, how about some Rocky Road ice cream?"

Even more reason for me to love that woman. I am crazy for Rocky Road ice cream. I really do have great parents. Which made me wonder. "Mom, did you and Dad decide not to have any more kids because of my blindness?"

"God, Marina, No! What would ever make you think that?" She definitely sounded startled.

"Well, you guys are such good parents, but after me you didn't have any more kids." I told her logically.

"Oh, Honey, no, it never had anything to do with you. We just weren't able to. I would love to have another child." I heard the wistfulness in her voice. Heck, I'd heard it enough in my own. "But it just wasn't meant to be. We're very lucky to have you though. That's enough for me."

"Thanks Mommy." I know she liked that. She missed me being little sometimes.

I felt better getting on the bus the next morning. Happier. I couldn't see my own aura, or I would have used that to tell me which color meant what. I'm sure that day I would have been all blue though. I sat in my seat in front of Warren, and could feel the others just looking at me.

"Marina, how can you be so cheerful this early in the morning?" Zach asked me. "Every day you get on this bus smiling." I looked at how he glowed so brightly, and saw his aura was a fuzzy blue.

"You can't fool me Zach; I know you're in a good mood today." I said with a smile. "I'm just in a good mood. Why shouldn't I be?" My cell phone rang. It sort of surprised me. I didn't think it would work mid flight. I answered to hear Kimmie practically in tears. "Calm down Kimmie, what's going on?" I almost hung up right then. Kimmie's mom wouldn't let her go out with Jeremy by themselves. If I didn't go, she didn't go. Like the blind girl made a good chaperone. I told her there was no way I was going out with Caleb again, and I heard a snort from the seat behind me. If I could have glared at him I would have. My glare...not so intimidating. Finally, I told her I would think up a solution and get back to her.

"Are you actually considering going back out with that jerk?" Warren asked me snidely.

"As if!" I huffed at him. "No, I'm not that much of a sap. I'll figure something out though. Something where Kimmie can have her date with Jeremy, but I don't have to go out with Caleb, or any other guy for that matter."

"You don't want to go on dates?" Layla asked incredulously.

"No, not really." I told her with a shrug. "Seriously, most guys don't like the whole blind aspect, and those that do normally think they can get away with something."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" she asked me.

"Well, yeah. My freshman year I went out with this boy, Greg. We went out from January to May, but then his Dad got transferred." We arrived at school and headed in. "I haven't really met any boys that interest me, and the ones I do meet don't look twice at me."

"How do you know?"

"What?"

Layla seemed intrigued. "How do you know they don't look twice? You could have a whole slew of guys interested, but you don't know."

I tried to put on a derisive face. I really just never know how it's going to come out. It's not like I can practice in the mirror. "Layla, please. The only guy, besides Caleb, who's shown any interest in me is Max, or that Larry the rock kid. Neither of them is on my radar." I looked over at her and saw her aura turning from blue to a lighter blue. Not unhappy like, just different.

"So," she said slowly, "If you were to meet someone who interested you, or that showed an interest in you, then you would possibly go out with them?"

I stopped there and looked at her through narrowed eyes. Yes, there was definitely something odd about her aura… Darn it I really needed to figure this entire thing out soon. "Layla, why are you asking me this? It's sort of pointless."

She sighed loudly. "Just answer the question!"

I cocked my head to the side and thought about it. If I met someone who had similar interests, or who I found interesting, would I go out with them? What if I said yes? What if I found someone I was interested in, but they weren't interested in me? I found it much easier just not thinking about boys. "If a boy was interested in me, and I felt similarly, then I would go out with him." I told her confidently. I didn't feel very confident though. How would I ever know if he was really interested in me, or if he was going out with me out of pity? It happened you know. Geez, wasn't it bad enough to be a teenager, then you add in the powers and the blindness and life is WAY difficult. Kimmie has nothing on me.

By the time we got to lunch Layla seemed to be bursting with something akin to excitement. By the way, excitement is similar to joy and is a very bright blue. The different shades are going to be my downfall. Everyone seemed unusually quiet and I realized they were waiting for Layla to explain to them her brilliant idea, because it was obvious she had one.

"Okay, we all know that Marina's friend Kimmie wants Marina to go out with her this weekend so she can go out with Jarod."

"Jeremy." I corrected.

"Right, sorry, Jeremy. So, here's my plan. Magenta, Zach, Me, Will, and Warren will accompany Kimmie, Jeremy, and Marina out for the evening."

"What?" I nearly yelped.

"What?" Warren asked blankly. "How did I get in this?"

"Yeah, how did he get into this?" I asked.

Layla sighed. Loudly. I got the feeling that was supposed to make us feel stupid. "You guys! Marina, we all know you're going to end up going so that Kimmie can go. That's what best friends do. And Warren, we don't want Marina to get stuck with that jerk again, do we?" she asked sweetly.

"Mmm." He grunted.

"Oh, it's not like a date you two. With everyone there it will be a group activity!" I could hear the smugness in her voice.

I didn't point out to her that with her and Will, Kimmie and Jeremy, and Magenta and Zach, all couples, that would leave me and Warren together. He didn't point it out either so I guess it wasn't wrong of me not to. Magenta and Zach readily agreed. So did Will. That just left me and Warren to give our thumbs up.

I looked in the general vicinity that he was sitting in. The others were chatting quietly; too busy talking about what we would do to realize we hadn't agreed. The colors surrounding him startled me. They were bluish, but closer to his body was an icy blue. I could see his outline more clearly too. That made my eyes widen.

"You okay?" He asked in an anxious tone. Everyone looked at us.

"The outlines." I whispered. "Everything is clearer."

"Tell us." Will said excitedly.

"It's just that they are clearer than normal. I can actually see Warren's outline." Awe had filled my voice. Maybe I didn't know for sure, but Warren seemed to be a big guy. I turned and looked at the others. "Zach, your hair is all spiky. Layla are you wearing a skirt AND jeans?"

She laughed at that. "That's awesome Marina!"

"Do you know how long it's been since I could see this distinctly? I mean, I still can't see, but it's like shadows instead of pitch black now."

"Do you think your sight is coming back?" Warren asked me quietly.

"No, it isn't like that." I told him with a slight smile. "It's something else. I wish I could explain it."

Warren nodded at me, and I could tell he was nodding. "So, what are we doing this weekend Flower girl?" He asked Layla abruptly.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for your reviews. I look forward to seeing them come in. If ever anyone has any questions for me, please ask, either in an email or a review andI will try to respond.**

**Kateryna: there will be no rushing. promise.**

**Hell-in-my-life: You may use Marina in your story. Keep in mind she doesn't meet them until their Junior year. If you have any questions regarding her let me know andI will respond. I don't mind if you change it, just please don't change her.**

**No more words: no ditching. we're moving it slow. **

**Stranded: I try to post as much as possible. It just depends on how busy I am with work and family.**

By the time the end of the week came around I had begun to feel some excitement about our group outing. Layla, Magenta, Kimmie and I were getting together Saturday morning and going to the mall. That would give Kimmie a chance to meet my new friends, and my new friends would get to meet my oldest friend. I figured they'd get a long quite well. School had been relatively quiet, and nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. That made me feel better, considering I always felt like I was going to walk around a corner and run into Max Von Schilne. My biggest desire at this point in time was just to make it through the days without having to speak to him, or having to be near him. One of the freshman ended up tossing Coach Boomer through the gym wall on accident, so for now gym had been cancelled. I didn't have a problem with that. No gym, no Save the Citizen. I knew eventually I'd be put in the position where I had to play the game. I just hoped it wasn't against someone like Max.

We met at my house Saturday morning. We were meeting the guys that afternoon. There was a Carnival in town currently so we were meeting there. I'm sure you've all been to carnivals. You know what I'm talking about? Where they erect rides, and have tons of food, animals to look at, and sometimes even a petting zoo. I hadn't been to a carnival in a long time. It was sort of like an obstacle course to me. I was going to give it a shot. It had been Layla's idea, and she'd seemed so excited about the whole thing I hadn't the heart to tell her it might not work for me. So the plan was to meet the guys at the front gates at two in the afternoon.

I was right, and all three of my friends got along marvelously. I was glad. It let Layla and Magenta see that Kimmie would never put me in a bad position purposely, and it let Kimmie see that my new friends were good people. She worried about me don't you know. It was a warm day so I'd worn some khaki camper shorts, blue handkerchief top (the kind that tie around your back, and your neck), and sneakers. It left my midsection bare, but all the girls assured me that my midsection was certainly attractive enough to be bare. Still it was a strange feeling. It almost felt like I was wearing a bathing suit top. Kimmie was trying to talk me into getting my belly button pierced when I turned eighteen. Yeah, because my Dad would love that one. The thought brought a smile to my face.

We arrived at the front gates several minutes early. All of the guys were there, and Warren must have remembered Jeremy because they were all standing together. The first thing that Jeremy did was apologize to me for Caleb. I almost laughed, but instead I just smiled at him. He did seem like a nice guy. When we headed into the gate Kimmie and I happened to know the ticket taker. He used to drive our bus to school when I went to the normal high school. He hugged us, and we hugged him back. Mr. Smithers was a nice old man. His wife had died towards the end of my freshman year, and I remember how sad he'd been. How about that, I'd felt the pain even then? My Mom had baked for him, and made sure he was eating properly. He was happy to see us, and shooed us through the gate. We tried to pay, but he just waved us off, and stamped all of our hands. See? Nice old man. Everyone thought that was the coolest thing ever.

The first thing we did was buy ride bracelets. They meant we could ride any ride, however much we wanted to all night long. I really didn't normally ride a lot of rides. I don't even know if I'd like them or not. We wandered around a little bit, and my friends took everything in to see what they wanted to do. I could hear the sounds of carnival workers yelling to people to come play their games. The sounds and smells made me happy. I don't really know why; they just did. It sounded like happy children, and smelled sweet. My friends sort of encased me so I wouldn't wander off. I was in the middle of them all, with Kimmie on one side, and Layla on the other. Warren, Will, and Jeremy were behind us talking about some new CD that had just come out. Kimmie knew about our powers, but Jeremy didn't. So everyone was on their best behavior of course. At least I thought they were. Couldn't really be sure now, could I?

After we wandered a bit, and they checked everything out, Layla decided we'd ride some of the rides. The first ride they chose was called The Scrambler. Kimmie told me it had a bunch of cars on arms and it spun you around and up and down. Sounded interesting. With it being two to a car I ended up with Warren.

"Have you ever ridden this before?" I asked him as we were belted in.

"Yeah, a few times." I felt him shrug.

We didn't really talk much. The ride started and I enjoyed it. I found myself laughing as it spun us around, and every time it dropped us it made me giggle even harder. After that we went on to ride almost every ride there I'm sure. I was glad to find out that my stomach could take it. I didn't get sick once. The same could not be said for Zach. From the sounds I heard….it wasn't good. Finally, Layla decided we should take a break and go to the petting zoo. I really enjoyed the petting zoo. I love little animals. Heck, I love big animals. There were puppies. Kimmie told me that they were Rottweiler puppies. Not that I knew what that meant. Layla told me they were black with brown markings. Then she handed me one to hold and cuddle with. Oh, he was so sweet. He delighted me. The little fella licked my chin, and kept wiggling in happiness. I've never had a dog before. I think we spent a good hour in that little area. The puppy yipped at us when I put him back. Broke my heart.

We decided to get something to eat after that. Magenta and I decided to get a table while everyone else got food. We'd only been sitting there for a few minutes when I felt it. None of the rides had made me feel the sickness in the pit of my stomach like Max Von Schilne did. I knew it was him, and Magenta made a small noise as he and two others sat down at our table.

"Marina, it's so good to see you out and about." he said in his smug voice. "Ya know, I don't believe I've ever introduced you to Carl. He can shape shift into a tiger." Magenta stiffened next to me. "And my other friend here is Peter. Peter here can levitate things. Very cool power."

"It's nice to meet all of you." I said politely. They all made me sick. Literally. Peter was almost up there with Max on the nastiness scale.

"So, what are you ladies doing here all by yourself?" Peter asked.

"Oh, we aren't here by ourselves." I told them. "Our group went to go get some food while we grabbed a table for us all. They should be here any time."

Almost as if on cue Layla and Kimmie joined us. "Max." Layla said with some surprise in her voice.

"Are all you girls here by yourselves tonight?" There was a tone to Max's voice that told me this would please him very much.

"No." Kimmie said. Her tone was almost snotty and it almost made me laugh. She didn't even know him, and didn't like him. I'm not sure I've ever described Kimmie. I know she's gorgeous, because all the boys at school wanted to date her. Kimmie's Dad is American, and her Mom is Philippino. Mom told me once that Kimmie was lovely with long black hair and chocolate brown eyes. Even I know the color of chocolate. She was shorter than I am, and Mom said she was willowy. Which I think meant she wasn't getting the same curves that I was. I'm thinking that getting breasts might not be the best thing. Back to the subject at hand though. "All the guys are getting the rest of the food. They should be here soon."

Max put his arm around my shoulders. "Oh, who are you here with?" An edge entered his voice. "I'm assuming Stronghold and Zach, since their girls are here."

"Yeah, and Warren and Jeremy are here." Kimmie said hotly.

Max's arm tightened on my shoulder, and I shrugged him off. "Max, don't touch me." I told him with a large frown. "They should be here soon, so you need to move so they can sit down."

"You're picking the wrong team here Marina." He told me softly. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt or anything."

"I doubt that will happen."

"You date Peace and it might." he told me in a very unfriendly tone.

"First off Max, who I date is none of your business. Second, Warren and I aren't dating. Third, I don't respond well to threats. Why don't you find someone else to bother?" He'd really made me angry. Not that Warren and I would ever date, but seriously? Did he think it was any of his business? I was getting tired of the sick feeling he gave me, and the whole possessive streak that had come from nowhere. Never had I ever given him one second to think I might be interested in him. Did he think that because of his power that meant he could have whatever or whoever he wanted?

Max stood up quickly and his friends followed suit. The guys had just arrived at our table, and there was red splashed along all four of their auras. Jeremy had the red tinge, but a lot of icy blue as well. No one spoke a word and finally the other three boys moved off.

Jeremy spoke first. "Ok, so I'm confused. Who were they?"

"Just some jerks we go to school with." Will told him slowly.

Layla added. "For some reason Max thinks that Marina is going to date him."

"I thought Marina was dating Warren?" Jeremy asked, still confused. But hey, now I knew what icy blue meant.

"No." I told him. "We're just friends. I don't really date much."

We didn't run into the three troublemakers again, and ended up finishing out the night and having a great time. I went back and cuddled the puppy one more time. The only odd thing that happened was when we were about to get onto the Ferris Wheel. I tripped and Warren caught me. His hand was like a flame on my skin. It didn't hurt, just felt good, like when I caught the flames that time? I found my gaze going to him, and he had the icy blue haze around him. I felt the same way. "You aren't supposed to use your powers?" I whispered.

"I'm not." he muttered. "And it's hot for me too."

"But not painful." I told him reassured.

"No, not painful."


	7. Chapter 7

The following week in science class I made my first ray gun. Mr. Medulla shot it, and informed me I'd done a passable job of it. It wasn't as strong as he would have liked it to be, but then I felt that since I was BLIND I'd done a good job. He told me to keep up the work, but he must have been impressed because I got an A. Everything seemed to be working out pretty good here at the new school.

It wasn't until the following week that I realized that Layla and Magenta were up to something. I think Kimmie might have been in on it too, but I couldn't prove it. All of us girls had gotten together over the weekend, just to hang out, and I couldn't remember them hanging out by themselves for long, but I couldn't be sure. They were whispering together at the table when I got there.

"What are they up to?" I whispered to Will and Warren.

"I don't know." Will sounded bemused.

"Who knows what you chicks talk about." Warren muttered with his normal nasty attitude.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out. I mean it's fine if they want to plot and plan, I just hope it has nothing to do with me. Should have wished harder. "Marina, have you thought about who you're going to the Homecoming Dance with?" Layla asked only moments later.

This startled me. Homecoming Dance. "Well, actually Layla I wasn't planning on going." I told her honestly.

"We all go Marina." Magenta told me matter of fact. "Last year it was Me and Zach, Layla and Will, Ethan and Louisa, and Warren and Steffi."

"Who's Steffi?" I asked not recognizing the name.

"Steffi's Warren's ex girlfriend." Where the question about the dance startled me, that Warren ha a girlfriend through me for a loop. "You know the blonde ice chick from Algebra?"

"Maybe if I heard her."

"Yeah, that's Steffi."

"Do we have to talk about this?" Warren said snidely.

"I'm sorry Warren. Magenta if he's not over her then we shouldn't talk about this." I directed to the other girl.

Will snickered, and looking at Warren's outline his aura had turned pinkish. "I'm so over her." he informed me haughtily. "I just can't believe how stupid I was to go out with her for so long." His voice had taken on a disgusted quality, and his aura was a very bright pink now. Definitely embarrassed.

"Wait a minute." I said, a memory dawning on me. "Is she the one who orders that Deke guy around constantly?"

"Yep, sounds like her." Layla told me.

I grimaced. "Wow Warren, I think you're better off without her. You could find a much nicer girl I'm sure." I told him with a pat on his hand. I really didn't touch Warren much in the past two weeks. One, there was really no need to, and two I think we both found the hot sensation both exciting and troubling. I couldn't explain, and neither could he so I think we'd both just decided to ignore it. Worked for me.

"Anyway, back to the dance." Layla could be quite determined. "This year neither you nor Warren have dates, so we were thinking you should go together."

We spoke simultaneously. "Oh Layla, I don't think I'm gonna go."

"I think I have to work that night." As soon as the words left our mouths we started laughing.

"Oh, come on you guys!" Layla sounded distressed. "Warren you HAVE to go! We've all gone together every year. And Marina, you have to go too. I'm sure your Dad would want you to. It isn't like we're saying you have to go steady or anything. Just go to the dance together. Marina, we can go shopping and pick out an awesome dress. And Warren I know for a fact you have a tux."

I sighed. "Fine, if Warren wants to go, or at least doesn't mind going, and he needs a date I'll go. But only if he doesn't find a date that he really wants to go with. If he does, then all bets are off."

"Ditto." he added.

Layla squealed in excitement. "This is so great! We are all going to have such a good time! Much better than last year, and totally better than our first year!"

"I sort of like how our first year ended." Will protested.

"True." she agreed and I saw their auras turning that vivid blue and getting closer. "You learned you could fly, we defeated Royal Pain, and we started dating." She sighed happily.

"Wait a minute." I was confused. "Will, if you can fly why do you ride the bus to school?"

"Because I want to hang out with everyone." he told me simply. I guess it was pretty simple. At least it made sense to me. Although if he ever missed the bus he had it made.

I didn't really think of the Homecoming Dance after that first conversation. I mean it was a month away, and I was pretty sure that I wouldn't end up going. I heard the girls at school talk about Warren. Sure they said he was scary, but they also sighed over him and talked about how gorgeous he was. So why would he need to be set up with me as a date when he had the entire female population of our school, minus a handful, to choose from.

About two weeks from the dance I was at my locker by myself. Layla had forgotten a notebook back in class and had told me she'd meet me at the lockers before we headed out to the buses. I felt him coming and turned to meet him. "What do you want Max?" I'd felt like I'd been being watched recently, and I was starting to wonder if it was Max or his friends. They were all creepy enough. Not that I would ever catch them.

"I just haven't talked to you in awhile Marina." he said and tried to use an injured tone. "I was wondering how you were doing?"

I relaxed only slightly. I didn't believe a word coming out of his lips. "I'm good. Real good."

"That's great." he said enthusiastically. "You look as beautiful as ever. Your eyes are such a striking shade of lavender. Really quite lovely."

"Thank you Max." I told him politely.

"I was actually hoping to catch you alone since I know your friends don't like me very much."

"Well, from what I understand those feelings go both ways. I heard that you don't like them very much either."

"It's true, we don't really have that much in common." he said politely.

"What did you want to talk to me about Max?" I was getting irritated. Hopefully Layla would show up soon. I didn't want to miss the bus, although I didn't think Gary, the driver, would take off without me.

"I was hoping we could start over. I was hoping you'd accompany me to the Homecoming Dance. I know we don't know each other well, but we could use that time to learn more about each other." He spoke in a charming voice, and I'm sure he found himself quite charming.

"Oh…" I began but didn't get to finish. A familiar red hue had come into my limited vision, followed closely by several blue hues.

"Sorry Von Schilne Marina already has a date to the dance." Warren almost sounded smug.

Max must have turned to face him because his voice wasn't as clear. "Oh, who with Peace?"

"Me."

"I didn't think you and Peace were together like that?" he almost sounded accusing.

I shrugged. "We aren't, but we made the plans two weeks ago. I'm sorry."

"I'm getting real tired of you getting in my way Peace." Max hissed.

Once again, as if in slow motion I felt him hurl the sphere of fire. I know it couldn't have gone that slow, because it was unexpected. I know that my friends were startled by his actions. I thought one word. 'Stop!' I heard Layla gasp and somehow knew the fire had listened to me. Max uttered an expletive. I moved around him focusing on the orange and red ball hovering in the air in front of Warren. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt him, but still it's almost like it was like an instinct. I scooped the fire into my hand, and it came willingly. It danced along my hand and tingled with its path. I turned back to face Max.

"We belong together Marina." he spoke quietly. "With my power, and yours. We compliment each other."

I tilted my head slightly. Did he truly believe that? "We're too different to ever compliment each other Max." I spoke softly, and I really didn't know where the words were coming from. "I see you. See who you are and what you are. I see your thoughts in waves of color that you can only imagine. Your thoughts and dreams color your soul, and the color isn't pleasant Maximillian. Keep that in mind when making decisions." His entire aura went incredibly pale and without saying a word he hurried away.

"What was that?" Layla whispered.

I still held the flame in my hands. "I don't really know." I told them truthfully.

Warren moved up to me. "Let me see your eyes." he murmured. I looked up to where I thought his face would be. The outlines were much clearer. "Your eyes are the way they were that day. Black with flames." He almost sounded as if he was in awe. "Make the flames go away Marina."

I held my hand out palm up. "Go." I told it. The flame burned low and winked out. The outlines that had been clearer went back to the fuzzier vision I'd had before. "Are you all scared of me now?" I asked, and it was almost tearfully. Heck, I was scared of me now why wouldn't they be?

Layla moved up and hugged me. "We're your friends Marina. We know you don't know the extent of what your powers are. You'll get it all figured out and we'll help all we can."

"Yeah!" Ethan chimed in. "I know I can only melt, but I'll melt any time you need me to!"

"And I'll glow." Zach added. They all started chiming in with how they'd help and it made me feel much better.

"I'll help too Marina. You obviously have a lot to do with fire, and that's something I definitely know about." Warren told me quietly.

Maybe I hadn't been able to go to my high school this year, but I'd been lucky to end up with such a great group of friends. "Thanks everyone."

"We'd better go." Will reminded us with a laugh. "I don't really know how long Gary will wait for us!"

Gary had waited, and we were extremely grateful. I couldn't wait to head home and tell my parents what had happened today. Of course I probably wouldn't tell them that Max bugged me, but I could tell them everything else, right? 


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the reviews I love them!**

**marie lebeau-- Are you psychic, or am I that obvious?**

I had been home for about an hour and half chatting with my Mom when our doorbell rang. I went with her, and heard her exclaim as she opened the door. I heard a soft whimper and a yip and immediately recognized it as sounding likethe puppy from the carnival. "Mom?"

"There's a basket with a puppy in it Marina." She said softly. I heard her picking him up and she handed him to me. He cuddled into me right away. Mom picked up the basket and closed the door. "There's a card in it."

I held the puppy close to me. He was only a little bigger than he had been. "What's it say?"

"Oh Marina! This card…it has words and Braille. It's for you." My Mom sounded like she was about to cry. "The puppy and card are for you." She took the puppy out of my arms making soothing noises to it as it cried a little.

I took the card from her and 'read' it quickly: _Marina, I didn't know how to tell you what's going on in my head. I was told you liked this little fellow, and know you'll give him a good home. I hope you know how special you are. –Your admirer._

Wow. I'd never had an admirer before. Whoever it was got me a puppy. Not just a puppy, but the puppy that had stolen my heart. I had no clue who would have done this for me. I mean, I talk to some guys at school, but no one that would be interested in me. Did Layla tell whoever it was that I'd liked the puppy? Did she know who it was? Would she tell me if she did? Probably not. Layla seemed to like a good surprise. Well, whoever had given him to me was wonderful. My Mom handed him back to me, and we headed into the living room.

"Can I keep him?"

She laughed. "Of course you can keep him! We couldn't give away such a nice present could we?"

I kissed him on top of his furry little head, and he licked me enthusiastically. It made me giggle.

"Do you have any idea who would have given you a puppy?" she asked me intrigued after I gave her the card to read.

"I don't have any idea. I mean, I saw the puppy at the fair two weeks ago, but didn't really say anything. I guess one of my friends could have figured that I liked him, but I can't imagine one of them getting him for me." I rubbed the little dog's belly and he sighed happily. "Plus, the way the letter made it sound he was told I liked the puppy, not like he saw me with the puppy."

"My little girl has a secret admirer." I heard my Mom sniffle and got confused. Was she crying? Uh oh.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine." She was full out crying now. "It's just that you're growing up so fast."

I found myself looking at my Mom and realized something odd. Her aura was much brighter. Not only was it a vivid blue, but around her mid section was a slightly darker blue. Oh my god. I think I knew what that meant. How weird was it that we'd just been talking about it a few weeks before? "Mom, are you pregnant?"

She laughed through her tears. "Yes, we just found out two days ago. How did you know? We were worried you'd be upset." Her aura had lightened to lighter blue, which I'd found meant anxiety or confusion.

I knew the smile on my face reassured her. "I'm not upset at all! I think it's awesome! I can't wait to be a big sister! Do you think he or she will like me?"

"Are you kidding me? This baby is going to adore you! How did you know?"

The puppy had fallen asleep in my arms so quietly I leaned forward and touched the aura that was my Mom's belly. "I see its aura Mom. It's happy."

When my Dad got home that night he was thrilled with the puppy, and amazed that I'd been able to see the baby. He told me that no matter what I'd always be his little girl and I told him that if the baby was a girl I didn't mind sharing the position. I hadn't chosen a name for my puppy yet. I decided I would sleep on it. Mom said she'd take care of him during the day. So far he hadn't had any accidents, but it made me, and my Mom I'm sure, glad that we had hardwood floors.

Reluctantly, I left him to head to school the next day. Once on the bus I sat next to Warren. He didn't even glower at me anymore. I guess he'd just accepted it. Poor guy.

"You look especially cheerful today." Layla said brightly.

"Yesterday after school was the best day." I said enthusiastically. "First off, someone left that puppy from the fair on my doorstep in a basket. Then I found out my Mom is having a baby!"

"Wow! That is a big day!" Layla laughed. "So, when is the baby due, and who left the puppy?"

"The baby is due in May, around finals, and I don't know who left me the puppy, but they are the sweetest person in the world." No one's aura was changing on the bus. I thought maybe if it was someone from the bus they'd change to a pink color. Darn it.

"What did you name the puppy?" Will asked.

"I haven't yet. I don't know what to call the little guy. He's so sweet though. When I put him in his basket to go to sleep last night he started crying. It nearly broke my heart."

"So let me guess, you let him sleep in your bed." Warren snickered.

"Yes actually. He cuddled right into my side and went to sleep. He didn't move at all."

I could feel Warren shaking his head. "You are going to spoil that dog."

"I've never had one before. I don't know how to train it." I protested.

"Warren, didn't you used to have a dog?" Magenta asked.

"Yeah, Chopper. He was a great dog." Warren had a remote quality to his voice.

"You know how to train dogs Warren?" I asked, an idea forming in my little blonde head.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cool. You could help me train my baby. Then he wouldn't be as spoiled." I told him with a grin.

"Oh, no wait a minute…" he started to say.

"That's a great idea Marina!" Layla laughed. "Warren, you'd be so good at that!"

"It is a pretty good idea." Will added. "Chopper was well trained."

"Great! Can you come over this afternoon and start?" I asked.

Warren sighed heavily. "If everyone will shut up now, then yes, I will help train your dog. I'll come over this afternoon to start, but don't expect a sweet cuddly little dog once he's all trained. He might not like me. He might turn into a guard dog instead of sweet dog."

So now we're sitting here in my living room,and Warren is lying on the floor with my dog. He rode his bike over right after school. He keeps telling him he's a big, strong dog, and my dog is yapping happily. Oh yes, he's a tough one that Warren is. I could be mistaken, but I'm almost positive I heard him blowing raspberries on the puppy's belly. Pushover.

"Let's take him into your backyard." Warren said abruptly.

"Do you want me to take your coat?" I asked. It was warm outside. I could just see it now. Fire boy faints from heat stroke. He must have agreed because he handed me his coat.

Okay, so I know that technically I'm blind, but this outline thing was really paying off. I could see the definition in his arms and chest through his sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing. Well, I could certainly understand why the girls mooned over him. He had very nice outlines. VERY nice outlines.

"First off you have to give him a name." Warren told me. "And nothing like Buttercup or any garbage like that."

"As if I'd name a male dog Buttercup!" I shot back indignantly. "How about you give me some ideas?"

"Killer, Bullet, Tank, Fang…"

"Um, how about something less lethal?" I swear I think he rolled his eyes at me.

"Butch, Fred, Harley…"

"Oh! I like Harley!" I interrupted him again, but this time with good cause. "That's his name. Harley. I'll call him Harley Peace O'Connor."

"Peace?" he exclaimed.

"Well, sure. You ARE helping me train him." I told him as if he should already know it. Warren grumbled a bit, but left it at that. The first thing we worked on was sit. It wasn't going well. Harley had issues keeping his butt still. It tended to wiggle quite a bit. What can I say, I had a happy dog. Just as it was starting to get dark my Mom came outside.

"Warren, did you want to stay for dinner?" she asked.

"Oh, no ma'am."

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't want to intrude." He said.

I snorted. "If you were intruding she wouldn't have asked. Come on, you're training Harley, least we can do is feed you." I grabbed his arm, ignoring the warm flash, and pulled him inside the house with me.

My Mom was chuckling. "She's always been a bit bossy." She told him, and ruffled my hair.

That reminded me of Warren's ex girlfriend. "I'm so sorry Warren. I shouldn't have just ordered you around like that." I heard the horror in my voice, and could see that both Warren and my Mom were startled, their auras turning a turquoise blue. I wasn't his girlfriend, and I don't know what had come over me. He probably didn't even want to eat with us.

Warren spoke slowly. "It's okay Marina, it didn't bug me. I just didn't want to intrude. If you're all sure I won't then I'll stay."

"Of course you're more than welcome." My Dad's voice boomed from the dining room. "Now everyone get inside so we can eat."

Dinner went well from that point, and then Warren headed home. As I went to bed that night with Harley curled in against my side I thought about the day. I'd really enjoyed having Warren there. Which sort of made me nervous. I had a bad feeling that I was starting to like Warren as more than a friend, and that would be bad. Warren would never in a million years think of me that way. What if he found out? Would he start to hate me?After knowing he went out with that Steffi for a year and a half almost, how could he possibly think I would be interesting? Survey says…he wouldn't. It was okay though. I would get through Homecoming, and him training Harley, and then I would stop thinking of him as anything other than a friend.


	9. Chapter 9

The week before the dance the girls decided we needed to go to the mall and go shopping. I was going to have to rely on them to dress me, but I wasn't too worried since my Mom was going with us. I wouldn't end up looking like a cross between a belly dancer and a nun. Not that the girls would mess me up, but you never knew for sure now did you? When they showed up at my house Layla and Magenta seemed about to burst with excitement.

"What's going on?" I laughed.

"I can change into more than just a guinea pig!" Magenta almost shouted with glee.

"What!" I cried, now just as excited. "When? What is it?"

"It is so cool." Layla enthused. "She can change into a raven!" Magenta nodded happily.

"That is so cool Magenta!" And it was true. That was cool. I wished I could shape shift.

"Do you think we'll all start getting new powers?" Magenta asked as the thought suddenly came to her.

"Gosh, I hope not." I said. "I think I have enough to worry about for now."

"Well, we'll just have to watch everyone very carefully. I mean if it happened to you, it could happen to all of us, or none of us." Layla said logically. My Mom joined us then and we headed to the mall. Magenta got her dress from Hot Topic. That was a store at the mall that specialized in clothes for goth kids. At least that's how they explained it to me. When they described it to me, I think the look on my face must have been quite startled.

"Is that how Magenta dresses?" I whispered to Layla.

She laughed. "Oh no. Not really. She's a little punkish, but not too terribly. She just likes their formal attire." Layla informed me. 

We seemed to spend hours shopping. Layla found her dress almost immediately. My Mom told me it was beautiful and that it was a mixture of browns and greens. From what I knew of Layla's abilities, the colors sounded perfect for her. Magenta settled, finally, and Layla described it as a black dress that had purple embroidery. Finally we went to look for a dress for me. I had no idea what they were choosing. I tried to explain to them that I didn't need anything really fancy, but Mom said I was her little princess and would dress accordingly. Then she started crying, so I told her she could do whatever she wanted. Anything to stop the waterworks. That seemed to make the shopping trip take even longer. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the opportunity to read the auras around me, but it did get tiring.

I think I tried on at least fifteen dresses before they all agreed on one. You should have heard them. They acted like they'd never seen a teenager in a dress before, and two of them WERE teenagers. Gracious. Anyway, they told me the dress was silver. It fell down my body in a sheath, and had straps that were supposed to leave my shoulders bare, and they were to rest just off the shoulder. There were slits up each side of the dress and the slits hit me at knee level. I thought the dress was a bit snug, but Mom said that was the way it was supposed to be. I didn't think Dad was going to be too happy with it, but hey, Mom chose it so I couldn't get into any trouble.

They picked out shoes and accessories for it, and we were finally on our way home. Not a moment too soon as far as I was concerned. I wanted to spend some time with Harley. In the car on the way home Layla and Magenta asked me if I wanted to hang out with them that evening. I was tempted to say no, but Mom seemed to think it was a great idea. Yeah, I think she just wanted to hog time with Harley. She'd become almost as attached to him as I had. I heard her scolding him for peeing in the house the other day, although he really hasn't had too many accidents, anyway it sounded like baby talk to me. Like he's going to take that seriously? I wonder if Warren realizes how much of his training gets undone as soon as he's gone?

I had been at Layla's house for maybe half an hour when the guys showed up. I suppose I was the only one surprised that they were coming over, but I don't know why I was. Layla and Will seemed to be attached at the hip most of the time, not that it was too sickening. Just a little bit sickening. So, Will, Warren, Ethan, and Zach all showed up. I had determined that Zach and Magenta had to be the oddest couple I'd come across, but it seemed to work for them. Everyone seemed extremely pleased that Magenta's abilities had strengthened. Even Warren seemed happy for her, and trust me that's saying a lot. Ethan told us he'd been working on his abilities and thought that he'd be able to add to his as well. It made me wonder if the powers did increase as we got older. I wish I'd thought to ask my father if his had started out as powerful as they were now. Which reminded me that I really did need to talk to him about his meddling in my dating life. I mean, I know he's my Dad, but c'mon? Rainstorms and lightning every time I'm going to get kissed?

We spent most of the evening listening to music, snacking, laughing, and just chatting. They asked if I wanted to invite Kimmie, but Kimmie's Mom had met Jeremy, and decided to let them go out on a date. She'd told me what a nice young man he was. Yeah, I guess she was right, but if he hurt her I'd set him on fire. Maybe not, but then, maybe I would. Probably not though. I'm such a goody goody.

At the end of the night I was going to head home. The guys were upstairs talking to Layla's Dad about something. Layla wanted to take me home, but I told her I could manage on my own. I told her I'd see them at school on Monday. I really had a lot to think about, and figured the short walk home would be good for that. Okay, so I know what you're thinking. A blind girl walking home on her own, but really with the aura thing, and all the outlines, I was doing pretty good. Plus I had the fire thing to defend myself with, and a cell phone for emergencies. I was fine. I didn't realize that as soon as I left she would send someone after me. I really didn't think it would be Warren.

I heard the bike pull up next to me and turned to see a bright red Warren. Oh, he was mad. I stopped walking and just looked at him. I tried to keep a blank face, but I'm not sure how effective I was. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he ground out.

"Going home?" I was a bit hesitant.

"You're walking home, by yourself, in the middle of the night in the dark?" he sounded a bit sarcastic.

Well, I could be sarcastic too. "Well, considering it's only dark at night, I guess that would be correct."

"Get on the bike Marina." he sighed in exasperation.

"No." I told him defiantly. "I'm perfectly capable of walking home Warren."

"Marina, get on the bike before I pick you up and put you on the bike." he told me quietly. Wow was his red throbbing. Maybe I should get on the bike. "You won't like it if I do." he promised.

Well, if he was going to be like that. "I can't. I'll get cold." I told him remembering the feel of the wind on me skin the last time.

I could sense him moving, and saw his outlines shifting. He moved close to me and draped his jacket over my shoulders. I shrugged into the sleeves. It was toasty warm from his body heat, and it gave me a little thrill. I am so stupid. I got onto the bike behind him, and wrapped my arms around his warm waist. I buried my head into the middle of his back and breathed in the scent that was all Warren. Damn, I mean darn, I had it bad for Warren. This wasn't good at all. As soon as he got me home I hopped off the bike as quickly as possible and handed him his jacket.

"Thank you for the ride." I said a bit stiffly.

"Don't do stupid things like that anymore Marina. That's how people get hurt." he said gruffly. "I'll see you Monday." 


	10. Chapter 10

With only one week until the dance the school seemed to burst into a mob of panicked teachers and teens. All everyone could seem to talk about was the dance and previous dances. That's when I found out what had happened my friend's freshman year. It made me 'see' them all in a different light. They had proven themselves against an incredibly cunning and powerful villain. They had proven that sidekicks weren't just there for support, but could hold their own if the job depended on it. Everyone one of them had served their own purpose, and none of them could have succeeded without all of them combined. Simply amazing.

It seemed that Warren and I would be going together to the dance. Ever since he'd made the announcement to Max he hadn't even talked about backing out or finding someone else to go with. Two other boys had asked me, but I was nursing my crush on Warren so I'd said no politely. I just hoped he didn't find out because he might get mad at me for not letting him out of attending. Max on the other hand seemed to be keeping a lower profile. However, there were still a lot of times that I thought I was being watched, and I felt that aura sending out its vileness. This was starting to get complicated.

"I'm going to head to lunch Marina." Layla told me. We were at our lockers, and I was still fumbling to get mine open after digging through my mound of books for the right books to drop off.

She maybe walked fifteen steps away when I got my locker open and there was an explosion. All I could see was a flash of blinding white light. Ha ha, get it, blinding? Literally all I saw was white. All of the grayish green outlines I'd been seeing were gone in that moment of time. The force of the blow sent me slamming into the lockers behind me, and it hurt. My head knocked into the metal and made my ears ring. Kids were yelling and there was total chaos. I smelled the burning odor, and felt the flames licking at my clothing and body, but it didn't hurt. Right before I passed out I heard Layla screaming my name.

When I woke up I could tell I was in the nurse's office. There is just something about the smell of antiseptic, tongue depressors, and lollipops that when mixed together create a calming odor. I hadn't opened my eyes. I was scared to. What if all of the colors and outlines were gone again? I was just getting used to them. I was really starting to appreciate the things they allowed me to do, and the extra freedom they gave me. There was anxiety all around me. I felt it clearly, almost like a physical pain. Slowly I opened my eyes, and let them adjust to the light in the room. I knew I was lying on my back, so I must be staring at the ceiling. I wasn't too worried yet. I mean, really, what was on the ceiling to see? I turned my head slowly to the side and the familiar outlines were there. I could make out a filing cabinet and big square object that I'm assuming was a desk. Turning to the other side I saw a very yellow aura, and a blue aura.

"You're awake! Oh thank goodness!" Layla cried and her yellow aura started to change before my eyes. It wasn't a huge change; it just lost some of its depth. "I've been so worried."

The blue aura spoke next, and I'm assuming she's the nurse. "Well dear, I checked you out for any broken bones, but you're in tip top shape."

"I just feel a little sore." I murmured. "Did I get burned?"

"Oh no." Layla told her, and this time her voice held some awe in it. "It was almost like all of the fire that came out of the locker moved forward on some sort of trail, sort of like footsteps. All of the fire made its way to your body and then it just sort of extinguished. I mean, the fire was all over you, but it didn't hurt you at all."

I frowned. The fire hadn't hurt me the few times I'd handled it previously, but this was something different. How could it not have hurt me? That didn't make sense. I wasn't awake to control it. It was almost like my body had instinctively protected me, or handled the fire without my conscious thought. Sometimes this whole thing felt like it was going to overwhelm me, and this was one of those times. Layla was right though; I didn't hurt anywhere. Well, except for my head, but I expect that's from slamming into the lockers behind me.

"What happened?" I asked wincing slightly as I moved to sit up.

"Someone trapped your locker." Layla said and her aura started to change rapidly to red from the lighter yellow. "Principal Powers is trying to figure out who it was, but whoever did it is pretty gifted and sneaky. I think it was Max Von Schilne!"

"That makes no sense whatsoever." I told her after considering what she'd said. "Yes, Max was upset that I'm going with Warren to the dance, but he's angrier with Warren than with me. Why would he plant it in my locker, and not Warren's?"

"I don't know Marina, but it scared me." She sighed. "I had turned back to tell you to hurry and saw it knock you backwards. I saw you hit those lockers and crumple to the ground, and it was horrible!" Layla had started crying so I sat up and moved closer to her.

"It's okay Layla. I'm okay. I know I got lucky. I'm just glad you weren't next to me when it went, because it would have hurt you." I said softly.

"That's what was so weird Marina. As soon as the fire started licking over you all I could think of was to put the fire out. It started sprinkling rain in the hallway." She whispered back.

Wow, this was interesting. I spoke slowly, "So you made it rain on me?"

"I think so." She muttered.

"Has anyone else showed any increases in their powers this year?" I asked her quizzically.

"Well, Zach said over the weekend he made his bed glow." Layla answered. "And no, he wasn't in it at the time."

"What about Ethan?"

"I don't know. I know he practices melting quite a bit; I suppose we could ask him. Where are you going with all of this?"

Nurse Spex spoke at this time. "None of the other students are manifesting additional powers like that. Normally I'm the first person that gets them. Make sure there's no bug ya know?"

"So why is it only our group that it's happening to?" Layla mused.

"I don't know, but that's an interesting question isn't it?" Nurse Spex patted both girls on the shoulders and left the office to speak with Principal Powers. It was indeed an interesting topic. She called back to Marina as she walked out. "You're free to go Miss O'Connor I already called your parents."

"Great." I grimaced and hopped off the table. "How long was I out?"

"Not very long, but school was cancelled for the rest of the day because of it." Layla informed me. "Principal Powers is ticked off, I mean seriously ticked off." We had walked out of the office and into a small group of people waiting out in the hall.

Yellow auras surrounded me as they all asked me how I was, and hugged me. One lone aura stood apart. He was cloaked in red, and the only thing that let on he'd been worried was the pale yellow outline around his hunched body. I wanted to walk over to him and have him hug and hold me but I wasn't brave enough for that. No, Warren had made sure I understood what our relationship was. Also in my mind was the fact that from descriptions his last girlfriend had been next to perfect in looks. I'm sure I couldn't even hold a candle to her. I was definitely shorter. One time I had bumped into her accidentally, and her voice had come from about three inches above me. Layla had described her as tall, blonde, and beautiful. I made sure to tell everyone I was fine and we headed home.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. I'll try to be better. Life has been crazy. Also, sorry for the misspelling of Filipino. I do have a friend who is half Filipino.**

My parents were freaking out by the time I got home. All of my friends had walked with me to my front door, and of course Mom asked them in. She was always the perfect hostess. Even if I could see I think I'd fail at that one. I just didn't think of all of the little things like she did. After she got us settled in the living room with Harley, drinks, and cookies, she and Dad sat down to listen to what had happened. I could tell Dad was furious because it started thundering outside. He calmed down when Mom put her hand on his shoulder. My friends were impressed. It was comforting to me to see the three auras merging. Mom's yellow, Dad's yellow and red, and the baby's blue. It reminded me that there were other things going on besides my little drama.

Don't get me wrong. I definitely wanted to know who had set that little trap for me, but in the end it wouldn't make a difference. They'd get their just desserts. There was no way one of those students could hide something like that from Principal Powers, right? A bit uneasily I remembered that Royal Pain had hidden from Principal Powers, but this couldn't be anywhere near that type of situation. I mean, that had been an extremely rare situation.

My friends were busy coming up with theories on who they thought had perpetrated the offense. Layla was positive it was Max, which made Warren angrier if that was possible. I didn't think it was Max. If it had happened to Warren, maybe, but it happened to me. I know that Max had sort of threatened me previously, but I didn't think he'd do something like a fire bomb in my locker. It wasn't like he didn't know I could manipulate fire. No, this was someone else. I wondered if there was anyway I could find out which kids at school had the ability of booby trapping. I wondered how they got into my locker. What I really wondered though was why they'd trapped my locker. Besides Max, to my knowledge I hadn't upset anyone. No angry words exchanged, and certainly no out and out fighting. I saw no reason to fight unless it was defending myself or my loved ones. That hadn't been a problem.

Harley licked at my face and cried a little so I cuddled him closer. He'd gotten a work out playing with everyone. It seemed like even licking my face tired him out and he let out a huge yawn. He was the best present I'd ever been given, and it seemed a shame that I didn't know who'd given him to me. The past few months had been the craziest. If someone had told me this past summer that I would end up with super powers and going to a high school for heroes, I'd have laughed in their face. Well, as close to their face as I could approximate.

The rest of the week for school seemed to pass by quickly, or as Layla sometimes says, in a blur. There seemed to be some shifting in the way Warren spoke to me. It was almost like his usual razor straight edge was brittle. I couldn't figure out what I'd done to cause that, but I couldn't worry about it. The teachers had been checking my locker periodically and had found two more bombs just waiting for me to discover. One was in my History book, and one had been in the small case that held the components for my laser. You remember? The one I was learning to build by touch? Yeah, that one. Principal Powers still hadn't figured out who was doing it, and I was starting to get annoyed.

Max had been thoroughly questioned and cleared, which I'd known would happen, but hey who listens to the blind girl? What would she know? I hadn't wanted to speak with him, but I had to let him know that I hadn't thought he was guilty. It had been the first time I'd seen his aura as anything but that nauseous gray. So I approached him after class at his locker. Layla stood to the back and was not pleased. Max's aura told me he wasn't pleased either.

"Max?" I began hesitantly. When he turned to face me I continued. "I just wanted you to know that I never for a moment thought that you were behind the bombs."

"Thanks." He said shortly. "I wouldn't do that to you Marina. No matter how mad I get, I wouldn't take it out on you." He'd emphasized the word you. "Seems like you've made a real enemy though."

"Yeah, I guess so." I knew the confusion in my voice was obvious.

"I don't like getting blamed for other people's actions." He told me angrily. "I'm sure between everyone looking we'll figure out who's doing it." With those words he slammed his locker door.

"I have to go." I told him. "I just wanted to make sure you knew that I didn't think it was you." Turning to walk away from him I stopped short when his hand closed on my shoulder.

"I do appreciate it Marina." He said softly.

My skin crawled where he touched me, but I remained steady. Wouldn't do to insult the boy, after making some small peace with him now would it? I thought that life wasn't supposed to get so difficult until AFTER high school. Boy had I been wrong.

Layla and I walked to our next class, and Warren and Will were already seated at our group table. It was History class, and currently we were studying Superheroes from the 1930's. It was sort of interesting. Everyone kept laughing at the costumes, but I couldn't see them, so no laughing for me.

We were barely seated before a waft of perfume blew around us and a mottled blue and orange aura approached. I recognized the perfume, but couldn't place it. A bit uncommon for me, but heck I'm not perfect. When I heard the voice I figured it out quickly.

"Hi Warren." The voice was almost syrupy sweet. Yep, it was the infamous Steffi. Interesting. She'd never been this close before.

"Steffi." He said vaguely.

"Are you going to the dance this weekend?" she giggled. Oh good grief.

"Yep." I have to admit it sort of made me feel good that he obviously didn't want to talk to her.

"Oh." She sounded surprised. "It made me remember how we got together that first homecoming." I think I'm starting to see where she's going with this one. "Do you have a date?"

"Yep." He said shortly, offering nothing else.

She sighed in frustration. "I'm going with Deke." She almost bit out. "Who are you going with?"

The tone of her voice was really starting to annoy me. Without thinking that there might be consequences I reached out and took Warren's hand in mine. The heat we created seemed to have a life of its own and I heard Layla gasp slightly. I paid no attention to her, instead focusing on this girl who was aggravating Warren. "Me." I answered her innocently.

She'd taken a step back from us. Obviously Steffi didn't like the warm sensation. "Oh, how nice." She said with some disdain. "Well, save me a dance Warren."

Warren was staring at me. I could feel it. "Hmm, what? Oh, sorry Steffi, I promised Marina all my dances."

Steffi's aura was changing from blue and orange to red and a deeper orange, but when she spoke she was still Ms. Sweetness and Lite. "Oh, okay. Maybe some other time." She moved from our table and went back to hers.

"What just happened?" Will said in amazement. I hadn't noticed but he and Layla had moved in closer to me and Warren.

"You felt it?" I asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, it was warm and felt good." Layla answered me. "I had a headache and now it's gone."

I let go of Warren's hand, and he didn't stop me. "I don't know. It happens anytime we touch."

"I'd want to touch all the time if that happened!" Will said exuberantly, and Warren smacked him upside the head. Layla and I giggled, and I ignored the way my stomach flipped at the thought of touching Warren constantly. Layla got really quiet.

"Does it happen with Max that way too?" she asked me. That sobered Warren and Will up quickly.

All I could do is shrug. "I don't know. I've never touched him skin to skin." The very thought of touching Max flesh to flesh made me feel uneasy. What if it did make me feel the same way? Would that change me? The very thought was confusing that someone who was obviously walking on the opposite path to which I'd chosen to walk could possibly make me feel the same wonderful feelings that Warren did.


	12. Chapter 12

So, I'm standing here in front of a useless mirror as my Mom finishes up my hair, and Layla finishes my make up. Magenta is yammering away while lounging on my bed, and the only thing I keep thinking is why would I have a full length mirror? Better yet, why would I have ANY mirrors in my room? It isn't like they were real useful to me. I know what you're thinking. Shouldn't she be worrying about the dance, or better yet, the fact that someone's been planting nasty little bombs in her belongings? To be perfectly honest I was trying not to think about this as of yet undiscovered mischief maker. As for the dance…well, what should I worry about? It isn't like I could control anything that was to come so I would just sit back and see what comes. Gee, that was almost funny, 'see what comes'. Gosh I have a weird sense of humor.

Mom interrupted my thoughts. "Oh, Marina." She practically gushed. "You look like an angel. So beautiful."

"Gracious Marina, you're a babe!" Magenta said enthusiastically.

Layla was quiet, and I quirked an eyebrow in her vicinity. "You're definitely going to be the prettiest girl there tonight." She told me warmly.

I snorted. "Please." I straightened the dress which clung to my hips. "Are we ready then? I think the guys have been here for like half an hour." Probably more like fifteen minutes, but I felt bad that they had to hear my dad's bad jokes. Plus, there was always the possibility that my baby pictures had made their way out of the cabinet. Since the new baby I had overheard both of my parental units reminiscing about my infancy.

We walked out of my room as a group and headed into the living room. All I saw was a bunch of bright blue auras. None of them looked upset or irate in the slightest. They looked up as we entered and I saw Will's aura turn slightly purple. Zach glowed a little brighter, and Warren, well, he seemed to swirl between the light purple similar to Will, and the light bluish color of confusion. It was okay though. I knew how he felt. At least I think I know how he feels.

I have to admit; I have got it bad for Warren Peace. Even now as I take in his tall, muscular frame with his wide shoulders and narrow hips, I wish I could see him. Even if it was only for a moment. Thinking this way isn't going to be of any help. I know that nothing will come of these feelings or fantasies. Remember, I'm the practical one.

Will and Zach lavished us with compliments. Warren didn't say anything, but then he really isn't the type to, is he? He had bought me a wrist corsage which my mother sighed over, and he seemed quite steady when he put it on me. Then they took a multitude of pictures of all of us. I'm sure they'd already talked to all of the other parents about sharing the photos. Then we were off. Gary, our normal bus driver was picking us up and taking us up to the school for the dance.

It didn't take long to get there, and I listened to Magenta and Layla chat about the decorations, while taking in the auras milling around me. Most of the auras were blue, but I did notice here and there was a vivid red aura as well as a few of the gray auras. The outlines of individuals seemed especially crisp this evening, and it wasn't difficult for me to tell individuals apart. Our science teacher, the guy with the huge melon for a head, was doing some wild gyrating dance with two women. I wasn't sure, but I think they're the art teachers. I saw Principal Powers brightness mingling with an extremely tall man, and his aura exuded not only the bright blue, but power. It was as if the air around him roiled with power. I knew that if I drew near to him within his radius the air would dance along my skin. Interesting.

We found a table quickly, and the two couples went out to dance.

"You look nice tonight." Warren said abruptly.

His aura was telling me he was uncomfortable, so I smiled at him. "Thanks Warren. I wish I could say the same, but I have no idea how you look tonight." I teased to lighten the mood.

He chuckled slightly, and relaxed. "You wanna dance?" he asked and stood up.

I shrugged. "Sure, but I can't promise to be any good."

We ended up dancing for about half an hour before sitting back down with our friends. It was fun. I knew I probably looked like an idiot, but if so who cares? I was having such a good time. We seemed to spend most of the time at the table laughing when we weren't dancing.

Warren and I had just sat down from another set of dancing when Steffi approached. I recognized her right away now. The perfume she wore, and the click of her heels as she approached. I probably knew she was coming before he did.

"Warren." She asked quietly. "Would you please dance with me for this one song?" Her voice was so pleading, and I actually felt sorry for her. I didn't want him to dance with her, but I did feel bad. Seeing as it wasn't my decision anyway I guess it really didn't matter what I wanted. "Please."

I could feel Warren looking at me. "Go ahead. I'll be fine here."

"Fine Steffi. One dance and that's it." He said bluntly. I felt a twisting in my heart. Steady Marina, I told myself as they walked away. Remember what you promised yourself, after this dance you're done with these feelings for Warren. Just a friend.

"You take my breath away."

I know I jumped slightly. Oddly, I'd been expending so much energy thinking of Warren and Steffi, I hadn't even felt Max approach. His normally gray aura was tinged with purple and he seemed nervous to be there. "Hello Max, how are you tonight?"

"Good." he told me and sat down at the table next to me. He leaned into me slightly, and for a moment I was nervous hoping that our skin didn't meet. His voice was almost a whisper that caressed over me making me uneasy. "If you were my date I wouldn't leave you for an instant."

I knew he was referring to Warren's dance with Steffi. I tried to play it off lightly. "It doesn't bother me if they dance. We're just friends."

"He's an idiot if you're just friends." he said wryly. "Maybe you can't, but I see how he looks at you." Max's voice was still a whisper, and his breath was warm on my ear. "You have everything; beauty, intelligence, generosity, kindness, and yet there's this certain spark in you that makes you different from someone like Layla. Something that says there's danger running in your veins."

I shivered. "I don't know what you're talking about Max." My heartbeat had sped up.

I could hear the grin on his lips. "I think you do Marina. That's okay though. In the end you'll embrace it, or it'll overwhelm you. I hope I'll be around to see it." He leaned even closer. "Which does remind me. I found out some interesting information you might be interested in."

Cold anger was radiating off of Warren as he and Steffi returned to the table before the song had even ended. Anger swam over the cool blonde as well, but I doubted she was angry for the same reasons. "Von Schilne."

"Hello Peace." Max said smoothly from his chair. "I just stopped by to keep Marina company while you were otherwise occupied. Steffi, you're looking as lovely as ever."

"Thank you Max." I could hear the pleasure in the girl's voice.

Warren was not a happy camper. Max stood. "I hope we can finish our discussion soon Marina." He brushed his hand casually across my shoulder and I tensed. I relaxed when I realized he didn't inspire the same physical feelings as Warren. I wondered what information he could possibly have to share with me. I wondered if it had anything to do with my tormentor.

"He's such a gentleman." Steffi sighed. "Are we going to finish our dance Warren?"

"No Steffi. Our dance is over." he told her with some finality. Okay, I admit it. His statement made me feel great! It did not however please Steffi. Her aura pulsed with a savage red, and it almost scared me.

"I see." she snapped, and I felt her gaze flash over me. She ignored me completely, as usual, and stalked away.

Warren was silent next to me. "What?" I asked him quietly.

"Are you interested in Von Schilne?" he asked in his harsh tone.

I was shocked. "Max? No, of course not."

"He just constantly seems to be where you are."

I shrugged. "I can't help that Warren. Max has certainly let me know he's interested, just as much as I've let him know I'm not interested." I leaned towards Warren and decided to take a chance. "I said before I don't date much Warren. I meant that. There is one person that sparks my interest though."

His aura was quickly changing from red to bluish purple. "Oh yeah? Anyone I know?" His face was coming closer and the warmth seemed to reach out and caress me without ever touching.

"I hope so." I whispered. I didn't have to say anything else. Warren's lips touched mine and I finally knew what bliss was. This was why Layla and Will were always so close. This feeling. His lips were soft, but not. They were strong and moved with purpose. I felt the fluttering in my belly, and warmth seeped over both of us. The fire that we both seemed a part of merged together and the warmth was unbelievably lovely. When he finally pulled away to take a breath I sighed. "Wow."

"Yeah." he agreed. In that moment I realized I could see Warren's dark brown eyes. "Marina, you're focusing on me." he murmured in shock.

I almost cried. "I can see you Warren." 


	13. Chapter 13

I only had moments to look at his face, and into his eyes before all of the vivid images slammed into my mind. It was a sensory overload. Fortunately for me I'd had the past few months to get used to colors and outlines so I'm sure it wasn't as bad as it could have been. However, it was pretty bad. Intense pain rocked through my head and raced behind my eyes. Nausea welled up into the back of my throat, and I slid from the chair to the gym floor.

"Marina!" Warren practically shouted. He fell to the floor next to me his hands grasping my shoulders to keep me from falling. As soon as he touched me some of the pain ebbed and I was able to breathe. I didn't know what was going on, and to tell the truth it was starting to terrify me.

Hesitantly I opened my eyes. I was disappointed to find that once again my vision was gone. I still saw the color spectrum of the auras, and I could still see the grayish green outlines of my special all-the-time night vision, but Warren's handsome face was just outlines again. My heart almost broke in that moment. Sure it had hurt, but to be able to see again, and to be able to see Warren…well, it had meant something I can't even begin to explain.

Warren was pulsing with worry. "Marina, are you okay?" Anxiety filled his voice.

"Yes." I whispered. "I could see."

"That's amazing! Wait a minute, you could see? You can't see now?"

"No. It's like it was." I managed to choke out. I was feeling quite overwhelmed at the moment. I needed to collect myself. Maybe go to the girl's restroom for a minute or two. "I have to go freshen up Warren."

He helped me to stand. "Do you want me to come with you? Or maybe Layla?"

"No." I assured him, my voice stronger now. "No. I'm fine, I feel better now I promise. It was just so much information coming in. It was just too much at one time."

"Okay, but come back soon." He told me. I could hear the worry in his voice. It was so unlike him.

I made my way out of the gym and to the restrooms down the silent hall. It was empty and I steadied myself on the sink. I took several deep breaths and waited for my heartbeat to slow down. I had seen Warren. What could have possibly made that happen? The doctors had assured my parents I would never see again once my sight was gone. Of course I'd had the partial vision, if you could call it that, for several months now, but this had been the real thing.

I straightened my dress, freshened my lip gloss, and sighed. I would have to think, or worry, about this later. Right now I was at the ball with my prince, or close enough for now anyway. I made my way out of the restroom and into the cold hallway. I nearly tripped on something lying near the doorway and I realized it was a body. I dropped to the floor quickly and realized that Max Von Schilne was lying unconscious on the floor in front of me. He was breathing, but definitely out of it. I wondered if he'd tried to find me to tell me what he'd found out, and then realized that someone had knocked him out. I looked up quickly and saw the two very distinct auras in the hallway blocking the way to the gym. One was a swirl of gray and red, the other was like a strange blue. One I wasn't familiar with at all. I recognized that swirl of red.

"My, my you ARE popular with the boys aren't you?" the voice sneered. "They seem to fall at your feet."

"Steffi, what's going on?" I asked, and stood slowly trying to keep aware of my surroundings. It was really cold.

"Just taking care of a little business, it is Marina isn't it?" she asked politely, but I heard the edge in her voice.

"Business?" I asked ignoring her question. She knew who I was.

"Yes. You've been messing in my business Marina, and I can't allow that." She almost sounded bored.

"I don't know what you mean Steffi." Now I understood why the hallway was so cold. Ice bitch, I mean witch, was working her power.

"Warren, Marina, I'm talking about Warren. I'm surprised he'd be interested in someone so dense. I was so close to bringing him back to me, where he belongs by the way. Then you come along and he's fascinated. I'm sure he just feels sorry for you since you're handicapped. I mean it isn't as if you're all that cute or anything. Not as beautiful as I am at least. Isn't that right Deke?"

Well, now I knew who was with her. "No one's as pretty as you Steffi." He answered in a besotted voice.

"So, why hurt Max?" I asked. I was wondering if I could make a run for it and realized she'd definitely have the advantage. It wasn't like I had an offensive power line up. I would definitely be on the defense, or passive, portion of the game.

"Poor old Maxie. First the boy is dumb enough to fall for you, and then he decides to go against his nature and tell you that he knew who your 'admirer' was. Maxie should have stuck with his nastiness." Her voice had hardened.

So, Max had figured out who was planting the bombs, and he'd been about to tell me. Obviously he didn't need to now since it was clear to me that Steffi had something to do with it. "So, you had a part in the little presents in my locker and my books, but I know you can't do it, so who helped you?" I said standing my ground now. See, this really was starting to tick me off. Barbie comes along and gets all pissy because she isn't getting what she wants so she decides to pick on me. Whatever.

I could practically hear her smirk. "My little Deke would do anything for me. Oh, didn't you know Deke has explosive abilities."

Ok, so I did NOT know about Deke's abilities, but then I don't know about a lot of other students' abilities. What a …jerk.

"Well, we'd better finish this up so I can go tell Warren you left unexpectedly, and console him." She giggled. Steffi was definitely missing a few screws. "Deke take care of this once and for all."

I had time, just barely, to jump as he flung a small orb at me. It hit me in the right side, ow, and exploded. I slammed into the wall to my left, and it spun me until I dropped to the ground. Well, so much for the pretty dress. Oh, yeah, and my flesh! I felt something welling inside of me, and I pretty much figured it was fear. Before I knew it another orb was swinging towards me, and I heard Steffi cackling. Stupid cow. I scrambled to get away. This one flung me backwards and into the wall. I felt something crack as I hit. That's gonna leave a mark. He threw two more orbs in quick succession and I'm pretty sure the outline of my body was going to be a permanent indention in the walls.

I coughed, and I'm pretty sure that the coppery taste in my mouth meant blood. Darn it all. Funny thing was, the flames from the explosions weren't hurting me at all. It was the getting knocked into walls that was a pain.

"Deke, stop messing around!" Steffi snapped.

Deke was nervous. I could tell even if the auras were a little blurry. I didn't understand why there wasn't much noise. I mean, why hadn't anyone come running? Stay focused Marina! I was slowly picking myself up when I realized that Deke was sending a monster orb my way. I was so tired I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time. Something slammed into me before the orb did. It was Max. The orb caught him in the back and he cried out. He was out cold again, but he'd saved me. Gee, if I made it through this I'd really have to make an effort to be nicer to him. Well, if he made it out of this too.

Deke was fashioning another monster orb. These seemed to take more time. The flames were licking at my feet, and eating the fabric of my dress. I was pretty much wearing a miniskirt at this point. Max was breathing shallowly next to me, and fury took over. Who was this hag to tell me who I could or couldn't see? And to try to kill me for it? What a raving lunatic! And mister obsessive over there? Good grief, he was willing to commit murder for her. Perfect pair of loons. I stood and called the fire to me. Almost instantly some of the pain abated.

"Steffi." I stated calmly. "You are such a bitch!" For one instant I thought of Warren and my friends. I knew that the next orb Deke got off was going to be bad. I didn't know if it would kill me, or just knock me out, but it would be bad. The one instant of seeing Warren's dark eyes calmed me and I concentrated. The flames poured into my hands and I focused on Steffi's aura which was slowly filling with fear. The double doors behind the two flung open and my friends spilled through.

"Hurry Deke!" She screeched.

"I've never done anything to you, and you try to kill me? Plus you could have hurt other people." Spheres of flame were forming and somehow I controlled them. "As for Warren. He's a big boy and he decides who he hangs out with. We're not even a couple you fruitloop!" With one last thought, and simultaneously with Deke hurling his orb I let the fire lash out towards the two. As I did I heard chaos ensue. Warren lashed out at Deke, and Will jumped in front of the orb. That's the last thing I remember as I crumbled to the ground.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Just to let everyone know I'm not changing Warren. He's still going to be surly and rude, however the fact that he's drawn to Marina, and she to him, is going to be a plot point. What I'm working up to is a reveal on why each of them seems to do things that their personalities normally wouldn't do. Eh, it's a work in progress, but I LOVE the feedback. I will never have any problem with anyone telling me what they think of what I'm writing. Even if they think it stinks, or is the best story ever. (as if). I love you all!**

I woke up in the school infirmary. I think these people thought everything could be fixed in the school infirmary. I felt like I'd been run over by a stampede of wild buffalo. Not that I truly know what that feels like, but it sounds painful and I was in pain. Someone was brushing the hair off of my forehead with a soothing hand. I knew that touch. They'd brought my parents up here. I was glad. I definitely needed some Mommy time. I opened my eyes slowly and found Mom sitting to my right.

"Oh baby." She whispered. Her voice was sort of quivering.

"I'm okay Mom." I murmured. At least I thought I was okay. I hadn't really moved yet. To be perfectly honest I was scared to.

"Well little girl you certainly gave everyone a scare." Nurse Spex practically cackled.

"I didn't mean to." I mumbled. It wasn't as if I'd purposely asked to be viciously attacked.

The elderly nurse patted my hand. "I know dear, but let's go over your injuries before everyone gets all caught up in the storytelling." She grabbed something next to her and started speaking again. "Okay, so you have a mild concussion, that'll cause quite a bit of a headache for the next few days. Two broken ribs, several lacerations on your arms and legs, your left wrist is sprained, and you have a nasty black eye."

"Wow." I said numbly. Part of me was surprised to hear everything and part of me expected more. "How're my friends?"

The nurse had moved away so my Mom filled me in. "Layla and Magenta are fine although I think Layla broke a nail when she punched that girl out. Zach broke his nose, but that was when he slipped on Ethan and skidded into a wall. Will and Warren had a few cuts and bruises but are fine."

"And Deke and Steffi?"

"Those two are currently in one of the containment detention rooms. Your father, Principal Powers, and Mr. Stronghold are with them now."

I suddenly remembered, "Oh my gosh, is Max okay?"

"He'll be okay." She was frowning. "He broke his right arm, and is pretty banged up, but he's awake and has already headed home."

"Why are you frowning?"

"That boy is just creepy." She shivered. "I don't know what it was about him. I'm certainly grateful that he helped you, but there was just something in his eyes."

"I know exactly what you mean Mom." I reassured her. "I don't hang out with Max for a reason you know." I sat up slowly ignoring the slightly dizzy feeling that I was having. "Did everyone else go home?" That thought depressed me. I mean, I couldn't blame them if they had, but…

"Are you crazy?" Layla said from the doorway. "As if we would just leave you here before we could talk to you. We came here together, and we'll leave here together. That is if it's okay with your parents."

"That's fine Layla. She's almost safer with you all than she is with me." My mom joked. Mom stood up and kissed my cheek. "I'm going to check on your father, and maybe have a few words of my own with those two nasty little jerks." I think my mom is the only person alive who can make the word jerk sound like profanity. I love the woman.

"How are you feeling?" Layla asked as she perched.

"Not so good." I told her with a slight wince as I tried to reposition myself.

"Gosh Marina, you scared us. After we dealt with Steffi and Deke you were just lying there unconscious. Warren went ballistic when you dropped to the ground. Those two are lucky to be alive." Layla babbled.

"I'm just lucky that you guys came out when you did." I sighed.

Layla blinked at me. "Marina, you called us."

"What?"

"We've all talked about it. We were all just getting back to the table. Warren was looking worried. We heard you. It was like your voice in our heads. We all heard the same thing. It was totally weird. You just said help. Warren headed straight for the doors. I haven't seen the boy move that fast since he kept trying to get away from us Freshman year."

"I remember when I got angry I started thinking about you guys wishing you would come out. I couldn't understand why no one could hear the explosions."

Layla was nodding at me. "Yeah, turns out Deke's little bombs come with their own noise dampeners. Seems he's been hiding a lot of his abilities because Steffi told him to." She leaned in closer to me. "They're in BIG trouble now."

I almost laughed. They almost kill me and all she can say is big trouble. "I wonder how I called you? I don't have powers like that. I KNOW I don't have powers like that."

"That's quite the mystery isn't it?" Principal Powers said from the doorway. She strode into the room and I could feel her worry for me. "There are several occurrences manifesting themselves in your particular group Marina. Some sort of mental link, new powers showing up, put that in with your array of abilities and we have a lot of unanswered questions."

Layla continued to stare at me. "Marina, we're all developing new powers. Not just Magenta or Zach. All of us who hang out together. I did the rain thing, Magenta did the new form. Zach can illuminate other objects, and Ethan is actually starting to shape his melting into small objects." Her voice was starting to get excited, but I was getting freaked out. "Warren almost flew and Will seems to be getting some type of sonic boom power. Coach is ticked off about that."

"I've brought in a specialist to work with you all." Principal Powers said with a smile in her voice. "It seems that the group of you together have formed something bigger than what we normally handle." The door opened and the man who'd exuded so much power previously strode into the room. "Marina, Layla, meet John Ramsey, also known as Prophet."

I managed to stifle my gasp, but Layla did not. Of course we'd heard of Prophet. He only headed the most well known super group in North America. Most heroes chose to run solo, however on occasion there were some of them that joined together to form such a group. The League of Defenders was one of the biggest and best. It was still active. Wow, Prophet right here at Sky High. In the infirmary with yours truly. Wow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you ladies." He told us in a strong voice. It was pleasant to listen to him, and he had a slight accent that I couldn't quite place. I think maybe English, but not real sure.

"John is going to be working with you, all of you, for the next few weeks."

"I'd like to evaluate you to see if you really are forming a linked group."

Okay, so now I was really confused. "But don't you actively seek out a group?"

Layla must have agreed. "Yeah, I mean, we've never even talked about that stuff."

Prophet cleared his throat before speaking again. "Normally, yes, that is the way it works." He started slowly. "However, there has been at least one instance where a unit formed unknowingly. If you'll give me the chance I'll tell you all about it. I've already talked to the others and they've agreed, albeit some of them are reluctant." This made me smile. "Are you willing?"

"I'm more than willing to find out more, because to be perfectly honest I really have no idea what's going on or what you're talking about at this point." I told him bluntly.

He chuckled warmly. "We'll start Monday. For now I'll take my leave."

He left the room pretty quickly, and my other friends passed him coming into the room. The only aura which I really saw was the deep red one. "Hi guys, thanks for coming to my rescue." I said softly.

They were all murmuring excitedly. "Can you believe it Marina? We might be part of a super group!" Zach practically squealed.

"I can't believe the Prophet is going to teach us." Magenta sighed. "He's gorgeous."

I laughed. Yep, these were my friends.

"When are they springing you?" Will asked.

"Any minute now." I was starting to feel odd. Was Warren ignoring me? He hadn't said a word since coming into the room. No, I was not going to be one of those girls that's always worrying about whether the guy is interested. "I guess my dress was torched huh?"

"Um, yeah it was gone." Layla said hesitantly. "We got your gym clothes for you."

"By the way Marina, you have awesome legs." Zach said in an awed tone. A low growl and the sound of cracking knuckles came from where Warren sat. "Um, I think I'm gonna wait outside for you guys."

Magenta sighed. "I'll go to. I'm glad you're okay Marina. You gave us quite the scare."

Everyone filed out of the room except for Warren. He still hadn't said a word and I was starting to get nervous. "So, thanks for coming out there." I said hesitantly.

And with that one statement he exploded. "What the hell were you doing out there by yourself Marina!"


	15. Chapter 15

I was pretty sure my eyes were going to pop out of my head in shock, but he continued. "You knew someone was gunning for you but you go wandering around the school by yourself!" he ranted.

"Um, Warr.." I tried to speak.

"NO!" he shouted. "I know this was my fault! Steffi gunned for you because of me, but you can't take these kinds of risks. Screwy things happening off and on with your vision, bombs in your locker, and Von Schilne always in your face. You can't just do things like walk home by yourself, go on blind dates, or hang out in school hallways alone." It didn't look like he was going to be calming down anytime soon. This was the most I'd ever heard him speak. His voice was almost raspy harsh as if he didn't use it too often, and I guess he really didn't. I appreciated his concern, but what did he mean I couldn't do what I chose to do? "From now on you aren't going anywhere alone." He told me with determination.

"Excuse me?" I asked politely.

"From now on any time you're going somewhere you'll have one of us with you." I could hear the smugness in his voice. As if I would take his word as law. Obviously Warren needed to get out of his cantankerous hole once in a while to see that the rest of the world, you know us weak females, didn't necessarily follow orders.

It hurt to move but I stood and managed to hobble closer to him with my eyes narrowed. "Look here buster." I started in an icy voice as I poked him with my finger in the chest. "I don't take orders from you, or any other friend. I'm my own person and I'll do what I, and my family, deems is necessary to keep myself protected." Now I was getting warmed up. "First of all, Steffi and Deke are dealt with, so I don't have that concern anymore. On that same note none of that was your fault, so you can stop with that crap now! Secondly, my budding abilities and vision issues are mine to deal with. If something happens and I need time to think and deal with it, BY MYSELF, then I'm gonna take that time buddy boy! As for Max, I think I've made it perfectly clear to both Max, and you, that I have no interest in him in any type of romantic or even friendly way. In fact, I think I've made it perfectly clear that I'm interested in you, but if you think you that you can boss me around just because I like you, well you have another thing coming." With each statement I poked him in the chest and he backed up. "Oh yeah, and if I want to go on blind dates, well then I'll go on one every night for the next year if that's what I decide, and nothing you say is going to change that!"

Neither of us noticed that the door had opened and Will and Layla had come back in. "Um, you guys?" Will started nervously.

"Like hell you'll be going on blind dates anymore!" Warren shouted. "You don't know who any of them are. And what do you mean you like me. You tell me you like me then you start talking about dates with other guys?"

"That's right! I don't care how much I like you. If you think that means you can tell me what to do then you're a doofus!"

"Marina…Warren…" Layla tried to get our attention. We both ignored her.

Warren moved closer to me. "If you get yourself killed then it won't matter who likes who, or how much." He hissed.

I leaned into him and hissed back. "And if you liked me then you'd realize I'm not going to sit back and be babysat. I don't mind help, but I will not be coddled."

"You guys…" Will tried again.

We both turned on him, "WHAT?"

Will took a step back. "You were glowing a bit when you were shouting." Layla told us.

That startled us. Warren looked us over. His aura had changed to the light blue of confusion. "She's right Marina. It's faint, but still kind of there, and Marina, some of your cuts are healed."

I ran my hands lightly over my arms where I knew there to be cuts. It was true. "What the hell is going on?" I muttered.

"I'm going to get Nurse Spex." Will said and ran for it. Layla followed him out more slowly. We really would have to apologize later.

"This is weird." Warren said bluntly. "Some of my cuts are healed too."

"What is happening with us?" This was really starting to freak me out. "Touching you, even casual, is different from everyone else."

"Even Max?" his voice was gruff. "I saw him touch you earlier tonight."

Oh good grief. All of these nutball things happening and he's insecure about Max? I mean, Hello! Did he not just hear me say I liked him? "Even Max."

Warren sighed unhappily and sat on the table I'd been lying on. "I don't know what the hell is happening with me. I prefer to be alone. I don't like to be touched. I don't talk."

I sat next to him. "I know."

"I'm not a nice guy Marina." He was staring straight ahead. "I'm rude and abrupt, and ignore people most of the time."

"I know."

It was quiet for a minute. "I like you too." Gee, what a romantic moment…not.

The door opened and the nurse, Prophet, and Principal Powers all walked in. They crowded around us muttering to each other, but not addressing either of us. When they finally backed up the room was silent. "Well?" Layla asked impatiently from the doorway.

Prophet spoke. "They're healing each other. Somehow, something in their make up is responding to each other. When they touch or their energy merges they heal."

"Extraordinary." Nurse Spex exclaimed.

My parents had entered the room. "Is that why I was able to see when Warren kissed me?" I asked curiously. I should have known better. The room erupted into sound.

Layla squealed. "He kissed you?"

"Wow, way to go Warren!" this came from Will.

I heard my mom saying something about her little girl growing up, and then there was a huge blast of thunder which caused Warren to wince slightly. "Daddy, knock it off!"

There was humor in his voice as Prophet responded. "It's possible. We'll have to study it further as we work together. It is quite uncommon for any of this to occur. In fact, to my knowledge it's only happened twice."

Everyone settled down shortly after that, and we all headed for the bus that would take us home. I was so tired. My ribs and wrist were aching, and really I just wanted to lie down. My mom made my dad sit at the front of the bus, and Warren tugged me into the seat next to him. Everyone else grabbed benches near us, and I could feel them staring. Warren had pulled me up against him. Besides our dancing this was the closest we'd been. His arm was around me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"What!" he snapped and I could practically hear them turn away. I smiled slightly and closed my eyes. The heat that was starting to become familiar to me enveloped us and I sighed contentedly.

I woke up to my mother gently grasping my shoulder. "Time to go inside baby girl." My dad whispered from her side. Warren was sleeping next to me. I kissed him gently on the cheek and made sure to not wake him up. Layla touched my hand as I walked by, and told me she'd call me.

As soon as we got inside I turned to face my parents. "First off, Daddy you need to be nice to Warren, hopefully we'll be seeing more of him. Secondly, none of us had any control over what happened tonight, so don't go blaming anyone except for the two nutjobs in detention. And last, I have no idea what's going on with the vision thing, the healing thing, or the group thing, so there's no point in asking." I finished and took a breath. "Now, I'm beat, so I'm going to bed. I love you both. Good night." With that I turned and headed for the door. Amazingly enough neither of them stopped me. I made it to my room, cleaned up a little and slipped between my sheets. I fell asleep thinking of what a crazy night it had been. A first kiss, someone tried to kill me, meeting one of the most powerful men in the world, and gaining a boyfriend all in one night.


	16. Chapter 16

When I woke up the next morning I groaned loudly. My body was stiff and achy. I padded into the bathroom and showered. Even brushing my teeth and hair hurt. I guess getting slammed into some walls does that to a person. After I was dressed I headed to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. I was grateful it was Sunday. Ya know, it also made me think. If this is what it feels like being a superhero and battling villains, I had to give my dad kudos for doing it for so long.

Something smelled good as I entered the kitchen, and my mom was humming. Her aura was glowing a vivid blue, and I could see the baby pulsating with a bright blue aura as well. It liked her humming and happy. 'Seeing' that made me happy. Mom was in her element.

"Hey sweetie!" She said brightly when she realized I was in the kitchen. "Those bruises don't look quite as bad this morning. Dad and I are going out tonight, will you e okay? Why don't you sit down? I'm making French toast."

Gosh I love the woman. French toast is my absolute favorite! Warm and sweet, and let's not forget the cinnamon. She set the plate in front of me and the aroma was amazing. I hadn't realized how hungry I really was, but I was ravenous. Dad joined us when I was on my second plate. Mom seemed pretty happy that I had a big appetite.

"So, about this boy…" Dad began.

"His name is Warren Daddy, and he's a very nice boy." I thought about that for a moment and changed it. "Ok, maybe he's not the sweetest, most polite, or friendliest of boys, but he's a very good guy."

"I believe that he's a good guy Baby, but I also know he's brash."

"William, he's always been very polite and courteous when he's in this house." Mom admonished. "And look how wonderful he is when helping to train Harley."

Dad sighed. "I just want Marina to be careful, that's all."

"Dad, I'm getting to be a big girl. You have to let me grow up sometime."

"You'll always be my little girl Mar. Always." He told me with a hint of something in his voice. "But if you like this boy, then I'll be nice to him. He has always been a nice kid when he's over here." He said begrudgingly.

I got up and kissed my Dad on the cheek. "Thanks Daddy."

"It's pretty exciting that you get to work with Prophet, huh kiddo?" he said enthusiastically. "Those guys are a lot of fun."

"Did you ever work with them?" I was curious. I wasn't even aware that he knew them.

"Oh sure, a few times. I always preferred being a solitary hero, but we collaborated several times, and they're good at what they do."

"What exactly can Prophet do Dad?"

"Well, I know he's strong, not as strong as Will's dad, but still pretty strong. And I know he can slow down time somewhat, but his main ability seems to be foreshadowing of the near future."

I nodded as I assimilated that information. "Daddy, he said that he'd seen two other cases where two people healed each other the way Warren and I seem to be doing. What happened to those people?"

"Honestly Baby, I don't know. I'd never heard of it." I could hear the confusion in his voice, and his aura had lightened to that perplexing light blue. "Hopefully, while training with him you'll find out more."

Oh, I would definitely find out more. I had no intention of letting Prophet not tell me. The doorbell rang and I followed as Mom went to answer it. "Well, hello Warren." She said with a smile in her voice. I could tell that Mom liked Warren a lot.

"Hi Mrs. O'Connor. Is Marina available?"

He seemed all nervous so I moved forward. "Hi Warren. How are you today?"

His aura shrugged. It was blue, a shade between happy and confused. Figures. "Better than yesterday. How about you?" he asked.

Mom moved out of the way and I led Warren into the house and into the family room. It's where we hang out most of the time when everyone comes over. My parent's made it all comfy and cozy for me. "I'm feeling better. Stiff and sore, but alive."

I sat down on the couch, and he sat near me, but he kept fidgeting. "Is your Dad around?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes, and the sun is still shining, so don't worry about it." I almost laughed. "What are you doing today?"

He seemed to relax at that, and leaned back into the couch. "Not much, I was gonna see if you wanted to go for a ride on my bike or something."

"That sounds like fun." I said. Yes it did. Sitting on the back of the bike with my arms around his waist. Sounded like heaven to me.

It didn't take long for us to leave after that. Getting on his bike I snuggled into his back and he sped away. He smelled so good. Especially to someone who uses smell as much as I do. That warm glow enveloped us, and I sighed in bliss. What more could a girl ask for?

He drove for awhile and finally stopped. "Where are we?" I asked.

"Memorial Zoo." He said gruffly. He paid for our tickets and led me by the hand inside. Warren held my hand the whole time as he described different animals to me. Then he almost seemed excited as he led me to another area.

"Animals have auras too." I told him with a smile.

"Oh yeah?" he asked as we kept moving forward.

"Yeah. Some are happy, and some are angry." He tugged me forward and I laughed. "Where are you taking me?"

"The petting zoo." He told me simply. It had been so long since I'd been to the zoo. The closest I'd come had been the fair we'd gone to. He led me to each animal and made sure when I petted them I wasn't in danger of getting bitten. One of the goats told a bit out of his shirt, which annoyed him, but made me laugh.

It really was an almost perfect day.

The ride home was just as nice as the ride there. I swear it was like my hormones were going into overdrive. Maybe I'd just never met boys like him, I don't know, but the feelings he was evoking were pretty exciting. By the time we got home Mom and Dad were heading out for the evening.

I kissed them both and told them that Warren was going to hang out for awhile to keep me company. My Dad cleared his throat anxiously, but Mom dragged him out with her. We made some popcorn, got some sodas, and headed back into the family room. Harley was hot on our heels, and immediately curled up between us to nap on the couch. He started telling me about his first year at Sky High and how he and Will became friends. It made me laugh when he was telling me how the others seemed to move in and how he went from being a loner to part of their group. He almost sounded disgusted, but he didn't fool me. They had grown on him. It was also easy to 'see' that he really cared for Will and Layla. I mean, he was friends with all of them, but those two seemed extra special to him. I wondered if they knew that. For all of his gruffness, and edginess, Warren really did consider them his closest friends.

It was almost time for Warren to leave by the time he kissed me. I think I'd been anticipating it all day. Heck, I'd been ready to jump him if he hadn't done it soon. My arms wrapped around his neck of their own accord, and I leaned into him. We were sitting on the couch still so I was nice and comfy. He placed his arms around my waist, and pulled me closer. The boy could kiss. I mean WOW. I don't think my lips will ever be the same.

It made me glad that I didn't have a lot of experience. It made me glad that I was experiencing this all for the first time with Warren. I sincerely know that it wouldn't have been the same with anyone else. Plus, I guess I'm one of those people who believes things happen for a reason. There were reasons why I'd never found anyone interesting enough to date. Reasons why Steffi had decided to target me. All of those reasons, every one that happens every day, led me to Warren.

When we finally broke apart we were both panting slightly. I finally knew what the purple was. Which kind of grossed me out remembering how Caleb had pulsed with the purple. Ew. I didn't mind that Warren was all turned on. Gotta love those teenage hormones! I walked him to the door and it felt like he didn't want to let go of my hand. I felt the same way. Now I knew what all of those silly romance movies and books were about where the two don't want to part. I used to think they were sappy sweet and unrealistic. Or maybe they're just the stuff of young love. Not that I was in love with Warren or anything.

He brushed the hair out of my face and kissed me lightly again. "I'll see you tomorrow." He murmured.

"Okay." I smiled up at him. "Drive home safe." He made sure I locked the door after him, and then I listened as he got on his bike and drove away.

It wasn't until I was brushing my teeth before bed that I realized that this time when we kissed I hadn't gotten my sight back.


	17. Chapter 17

It wasn't until we got to school the following Monday that we realized our lives were about to change drastically. We went immediately to Principal Powers office. She didn't hesitate to lead us directly to the gymnasium. Oh gosh, was all I could think at first, oh gosh, please don't let Coach Boomer be part of our new training. As soon as we entered the gym I could 'see' that wasn't the case.

Coach Boomer was encased in a bright red aura, and he was muttering to himself. "Where are we supposed to hold gym class if not in the gym?" he asked sarcastically.

Principal Powers voice remained patient. "This is only for a few days. As soon as the old gymnasium is completely repaired Prophet's students will move there and you'll have your gym back."

"What about Peace? He's one of my A students, as is Stronghold." He almost whined. A bit pathetic really. I mean the man is supposed to be an adult after all.

Principal Powers sighed. "You're just going to have to deal with the fact that adjustments are being made. They're all good students, but this training is necessary." She didn't say another word to the man, just spun on her heels and clicked out of the gym. Which kind of shocked me, I mean, normally the woman used her powers to get to and fro wherever she was going. That she actually used her legs was practically scandalous.

Coach Boomer was mumbling to himself and shuffling around. I suppose he was getting the items he would need for wherever he was going. A loud voice rang out, "Boom Boom! Buddy, how ya been?"

Coach Boomer's aura turned a sickly yellow and he became very still. He heaved a large sigh and turned to face the newcomer. We all did. The owner of that extremely powerful voice belonged to a hulk of a man. The aura around him pulsed a vivid blue, and he was already chuckling as he approached the coach. "Winston." Coach Boomer said without any enthusiasm. I could tell he was trying to hold on to what little dignity he had left. "I didn't realize you would be here today."

The man's, er, Winston's, booming laugh caught us off guard. Or at least it caught me off guard. "Not just today my good man." You could hear the resounding slap as he patted Coach on the back. Coach coughed and tried to catch his breath. "Sorry about that Boom Boom. No, no, I'll be helping Johnny train these kids." His voice was jovial and I couldn't help but like him. "Speaking of kids, what a great looking group! How are you all doing?"

"Good." Ethan gulped.

The man strode towards us quickly. "I'm Winston Fairbanks, otherwise known as Metalman." He shook all of our hands, and I swear it felt like shaking hands with an iron gauntlet. The man had quite the grip naturally. "You must be Marina. It's quite the pleasure to meet William's daughter. I worked with WeatherWatcher many times ya know."

"Um, actually I didn't." I answered politely. Just because I now had broken fingers didn't mean I should be rude.

"Oh yeah, the stories I could tell. Why, before he met your ma we had quite the time of it!" he chuckled.

"Winston!"

We all turned at the extremely sweet and feminine voice.

"Bunny, come on and meet the kids!" he said cheerfully. The woman who entered the room was short. Then I realized she wasn't short, she was in a wheelchair. She moved to us quickly. "This is my wife Bunny Fairbanks. Well, I guess the Fairbanks part was a gimme since she's my wife and all."

"Win," she laughed, "You're babbling sweetie, and I'm not sure you should be telling the students about the pre marriage days. Hello all, as Win said I'm Bunny."

"Are you a superhero?" Zach asked.

"She sure is." Winston said proudly. "Bunny is also known as Empath."

"I can focus the feelings around me, and influence them." she explained. "Winston, John, and I are going to be working with you for the beginning here."

"Um, excuse me?" I interrupted as nicely as possible.

"Yes Marina?" Bunny asked.

Well, geez, I guess EVERYONE knew who I was. " What are Prophet's abilities?"

"At times I've been able to foresee events before they occur." said the man himself from the doorway. That's a tad bit embarrassing, I mean maybe I should have waited to ask him to his face and all. Warren patted my back reassuringly. "I also have the ability to influence decisions at times." I must have looked confused because he elaborated. "For instance, say someone is going to bomb a country. I can go in and help to influence the situation in order to assure the best and most peaceful possible outcome."

Well, that was quite intriguing to say the least. Sort of like the Force. All I could really think was, "Well, heck, it's a good thing you didn't turn to the dark side." Oops, had I said that out loud? Yep, from the snickers around me I sure had. Luckily, Prophet was laughing as well.

"Yes, I suppose it is definitely a good thing." I could hear the smile in his voice. "Boomer, how nice to see you again."

"Sure." Coach responded woefully. "Always glad." I could tell he'd hoped they'd forget he was there.

"I understand how horrid it is that we're putting you out of your gym, so I just wanted you to know that Tish is here and she's going to get the new training area done for us ASAP."

"Tish is here." Coach whispered. There was a strange reverence in his voice.

"Maybe you should go say hi Boomer." Bunny said softly. He didn't say another word, just walked out the door. Obviously there were some feelings there. Hmm, who'd have thought, Coach had a heart.

"Who's Tish?" Magenta asked. "I thought it was only you three teaching us?"

"Tish is a Genie." Winston stated.

"Jeannie? I thought you said her name was Tish?" Will asked. We were all a little confused at this point.

Prophet chuckled. "No, her name isn't Jeannie. She IS a genie, or a djinn."

"You mean like Barbara Eden, I Dream Of Jeannie, Genie?" I was amazed.

"Precisely."

"Are you her master?" Ethan squeaked.

This earned an outright laugh from Prophet. "No, Tish is her own djinn, she calls no one master."

Needless to say my first day of super dooper new training was interesting. We took over Coach's realm, are being taught by three extremely different heroes, met an honest to God djinn, found out that obviously Coach has it bad for Jeannie, er, I mean Tish, and should have a whole new training area/gym within forty eight hours. Gee, I guess even for a Genie nothing is automatic. 


	18. Chapter 18

I was just finishing up the paper on explaining what I'd learned about her ability to read auras when the woman approached me.

"Marina?" the female voice inquired with its faint European accent.

I looked up at the form of the djinn, Tish. "Yes Ma'am?"

"Do you know where I might find Winston?" I was stumped. First off the woman in front of me was floating above the ground with her legs crossed Indian-style. Secondly, she was a djinn; couldn't she just use her powers to find Winston? As if sensing my thoughts, and for all I knew she could read my thoughts, the woman giggled. "The school messes with my ability to locate my friends." She explained.

Okay, that made sense to me. I mean, Sky High was a special place right? "Um, I think he was off tormenting Coach Boomer." I said with a smile.

She laughed delightedly. It seemed the woman was almost always happy. "Poor Boom. Winston is an incurable tease. He really does like Boom very much."

"Oh, I know. Mr. Fairbanks is just one of those people who likes to antagonize for fun."

"What are you working on?" she hovered closer.

"My paper on some of my powers." I told her. "It isn't easy. I still don't understand them myself."

"Are these new classes helping you?"

"Oh yes. Especially working with Empath. She's helped a lot."

"I've seen you all practice." she said. "I am quite impressed at the level of teamwork for children as young as you all are."

"I sort of feel useless to the group." I admitted.

"Far from it Marina." she said with some shock. "I've seen you pick the wrongdoer out of a crowd. I've seen you use Warren's fire; I've seen you sculpt it into something else. Your group is quite amazing."

"Prophet said he'd only seen one other super group form this way. He also said he'd only seen the healing that Warren and I share twice. Do you know of any of those?"

"Well, The League of Defenders is the group he was speaking of." I was shocked to hear that. "As for the couples. One of the couples is Winston and Bunny. I do not know the other."

"But Bunny's still in the wheelchair." I frowned.

"Yes. The accident that put her there occurred long before she met Winston."

"So that means I'll always be blind." I murmured almost to myself really.

"I do not know this for certain Marina." she told me softly. "I only know how it is for Bunny."

"It's not that it breaks my heart or anything. I just wish I could see my friends faces, ya know? I wish I could see Warren's face, and my parents. And my new sister or brother when he or she is born."

Tish stopped hovering and sat on the bench next to me. She was silent for a moment before speaking. "Do you know what is one of the most special things of your abilities Marina? It is the fact that you see their true faces. Appearances are just superficial, they mean nothing in the weaving of the world. But you, well, you are able to look beyond that and see the very essence of a person. That is more special than you could ever imagine." Her voice was melodic. "You are the catalyst. Before you were introduced into the group it was stable; no changes. As soon as you joined them an almost chemical reaction took place. Perhaps you cannot see in the conventional way, but your sight is what brought the others into their power. Your sight is what brought you all together." 

"Wow," I stated and blinked. "You're good. Have you ever considered a job as a psychologist?"

She laughed again. "Come, help me find Winston, and we shall save Boom from his antics." We headed to the Coach's office and found the two men sitting. Coach's aura showed he was clearly miserable, while Winston was jovial as usual. As soon as Tish entered the room Coach's aura perked right up. "Hello boys."

"Tish, Marina, come on in!" Winston ordered gleefully. "Boom Boom and I were talking about the past."

"Winston, you need to go check on improvements I've made to the old gymnasium." Tish instructed.

"I'll go with you Mr. Fairbanks." I offered. He chuckled and stood. As we headed out the door I noticed that Tish and Coach were moving closer together and their auras were turning purplish. Interesting, obviously those feelings were there on both sides. Who'd have thought? A woman was actually interested in Coach Boomer.

"So, have you finished the paper Johnny assigned to you?" he asked me as we walked.

"Yes. Just this morning actually."

"Excellent. Now, when we get to the gym I want you to focus your thoughts, think clearly and concentrate, and call your friends to you."

"But I've never done that before."

"On the contrary, we both know for a fact you've done it once before. At your homecoming." he reminded me.

"But I don't know how I did it." I elaborated. He didn't say anything so I just sighed.

"Don't worry Marina. You aren't the only one we'll be doing this practice on. All of you will have to learn how to do it, but it started with you, so now we start with you."

As soon as we entered the gym I felt Prophet's presence. I sighed once more and concentrated on my friends. Come to me, I whispered in my mind. At first it was just a faint noise, so I made it louder to myself. "I don't think anything is going to happen." I told him with a frown as Prophet approached us. Not even a minute later the door tore open and Warren rushed through followed quickly by Will, Zach, and Ethan. From the outlines and auras I could tell they were concerned, and they'd rushed here. Warren moved to me quickly. Layla and Magenta entered right after.

Warren was busy checking me over looking for injuries. I was speechless at first because I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. I think my tongue was swelling in my mouth. Wow. Lots of skin to skin there. When did I become such a horny teenager? "I'm okay." I assured him. "Mr. Fairbanks asked me to call you all here. I didn't mean to scare you."

"That was splendid." Winston chuckled. "Perhaps you should finish dressing Mr. Peace?"

"Yeah." Warren murmured. The heat where our bodies were touching was making everything tingly and I didn't want him to pull away. Finally though he did step back and put on the shirt that Will had grabbed as they left the dressing rooms. "That scared the crap out of me." he told Fairbanks bluntly; the anger was apparent on his face.

Prophet spoke before Winston could. "We're sorry if you were unnecessarily concerned Warren. But it is imperative that the calls come without warning. If you're expecting it then it won't work the way it should." He then addressed the group. "You will all learn this skill. It isn't only Marina who has this ability. As soon as your group linked it was this way you all had the capability."

"This is what we're going to be working on today." Bunny spoke brightly from her chair several feet away. "We're going to sit in a circle and we're going to send specific thoughts to one another."

"Groovy." Magenta nodded.

They settled quickly onto the mats laid on the floor and Bunny gave them each several index cards. "Now, I want you to read what is on your card to yourself and project that thought to the name I call out." She too sat in the circle with them. "Layla we'll start with you. Read your card and send the thought to Marina."

Marina sat silently and waited. Within moments thoughts popped into her head. 'This is kind of silly. Anyway, the card reads pumpernickel.' Marina grinned. "Pumpernickel?"

"Very good Layla. Marina read yours and send to Ethan."

The afternoon progressed and it became easier and easier to project to the others. "Is this something we'll have range on?" Will asked.

"You should be able to project across large areas." Prophet answered.

"So like, if I was home in my living room, and I wanted to talk to Warren, I could just think to him and he would get it?"

"Should."

"Wicked!" Will was pumped.

'Or if I wanted to talk to someone before they were going to bed each night, I could do that.' The thought came into my mind crystal clear and I grinned slightly. His thoughts sounded like his voice; gruff and matter of fact.

'I think that would work for me.' I sent back to him.

"I think we're done for the day. Make sure to come directly here in the morning on Monday." Prophet told them.

The group made their way to the buses laughing the whole way. "What are you guys doing tonight?" I asked.

"Nothing." Layla sighed.

"Do you want to come over and hang out at my house?" I asked. "Ethan you could invite Louisa along. I think Kimmie and Jeremy are going to come over."

"That sounds cool." Will said with enthusiasm. "I'll just have to check with my folks."

"I have to work." Well that sucked. I'd really wanted to spend more time with Warren.

"You could come over after you got off work?" I offered.

Warren was quiet for several moments. "Yeah, I'll do that."

It seemed like forever until he got there. My friends were watching movies, which was fine with me. I listened to them talk and listened to the dialogue. Finally, halfway through the second movie I heard the telltale sound of a motorcycle engine and headed for the door. Layla snickered after me so I stuck my tongue out at her. Well at least I think it was in her general direction. I'm thinking blind people shouldn't make faces at people.

Warren only had time to knock once by the time I got the door open. He stood on the porch and we were both silent for a moment. "Come in." I told him. He stepped inside and we stood there. I was a bit nervous. "Um, we're all in the family room." I explained.

I turned to head back and he caught my hand and turned me back around. Very slowly he pulled me closer and lowered his head. As soon as his lips touched mine I sighed. He tasted so good, and smelled the same. I pulled his lower lip into my mouth and bit gently and he moaned a little. I don't know why I did it; I mean I'd never done it before. He must have liked it though because both of his arms went around my waist and pulled me closer to his body. I wrapped both of my arms around his neck and kept him to me. Warren made me feel things I couldn't have imagined. I mean, I'd never thought I'd feel this way. I never thought I'd be with someone like this.

We finally came up for air as I heard laughter from the family room. "We'd better go join them." he told me in a disgruntled voice.

I admit it, I sighed. "Can't hardly wait." I said with false cheer. We headed back into the room to spend time with our friends. 


	19. Chapter 19

The next few days Prophet and Metalman put us through a rigorous physical training. I've always thought I kept in okay shape, but obviously not because every muscle in my body hurts. Don't get me wrong, I understand why they are working us so hard. I mean, it isn't like the bad guys will give you a chance to catch your breath. I'm starting to worry. No one has said anything, and honestly I don't think they ever would, but I'm starting to realize what a liability I'll be. I mean, I'm blind… it isn't like I can see people sneaking up on me. You're probably thinking, what about the aura thing, and what about the night vision thing, but can I really depend on those things to keep us safe? Eventually we're gonna find out, and that is terrifying. What if one of my friends got hurt because of me, directly or indirectly? I sort of feel like someone slipped an insecure pill in my food or something.

Maybe it's because I'm so tired. I mean, we're taking our regular courses again, and we have the additional training in the secondary gym every day during our study period and after school. I'm actually praying for Friday to get here. Friday means the weekend and the weekend means not as much work.

So, now I lay here wondering how I'm going to find the strength to make it back to the bus. It's awfully thoughtful of them to arrange busing so that we get home every evening. I wonder if I could just stay where I'm at and then I'll already be here tomorrow….probably not.

Warren and Will don't seem to be having nearly as much of an issue with this as the rest of us are. I can hear Layla groaning somewhere close by. Today they had us dodging small energy balls. They didn't really hurt or anything, well, they stung a bit, but that just gave us incentive to dodge.

"You kids did real good today!" Winston boomed. "I'm real pleased."

"That's great…we live for your pleasure…" Zach muttered.

"You gonna make it?" Warren's voice came from above me.

"It's possible." I stated. "Unlikely, but possible."

"Let me help you." He sighed and within moments I was up on my feet.

Got to love a man with muscles. "I'm going to go home, take a hot bath, and go to sleep."

"I'm going to eat. A lot."

"You always eat a lot Zach." Magenta teased.

As a group we walked towards the bus and it felt nice having Warren's arm around my shoulders…even if they were super sore. He didn't speak; he just listened to everyone else speak. It felt comfortable walking with him; safe. I know when I'm walking with him he won't let me trip or walk into anything.

I made it home after saying goodbye to everyone. Warren had to work that evening, but said he'd talk to me later, either by phone or mentally. My mom was humming in the kitchen and she'd baked cookies. The woman is awesome. They were my favorite; white chocolate macadamia nut. I mustered up the energy to munch a few before heading to my long hot bath.

Half an hour later I was laying on my bed for a short nap while I waited for dinner. The bath had done wonders for my sore muscles, and I was feeling pretty good. I must have fallen into a light doze because suddenly I was in the middle of a dead field. All the grass, and even the weeds, had shriveled brown and brittle. Everything was still and silent. I was alone and it was cold. The only reason I recognized it as a dream was because I could see. Otherwise, everything looked and felt real.

I took a few steps forward and heard the grass crumbling beneath my feet. I was wearing the t-shirt and shorts I'd changed into after my bath. I considered calling out, but for some reason that thought frightened me. I felt as if I shouldn't make a sound; as if I should possibly be looking for a place to hide. Shuddering slightly I kept moving forward, but there was nothing. Everything was flat. Suddenly a strange whispering sound began and I could hear it coming closer. I spun around trying to see what was making the sounds, but I couldn't see anything. The whispering was becoming louder, and still nothing. Finally, it was as if whoever was making the noise was right behind me. I turned quickly and screamed as my eyes met the dark figure behind me. I fell backwards, and scrambled to get away. Everything about the figure was black. Black uniform, black face mask, black boots and gloves. I couldn't see its eyes because of the black mask covering them.

I felt a horrible feeling of malice from the figure, and as it reached out for me I screamed. I shot up in bed and was covered in sweat. Tears ran down my face and I heard my bedroom door slam open as my parents raced into the room. "Marina! What's happened? What's wrong?" my dad was panicking.

"I don't know." I managed to sob. "I had a dream. A horrible dream, but it wasn't horrible. It just felt horrible. And it was just a dream, but it was more than that." I babbled. "There was a person in my dream, and it was all in black. It terrified me."

"It's okay baby." My mom murmured and began to rock me back and forth. "It's okay. Everything's okay. It's been a rough few weeks. All the stress must've gotten to you and gave you a nightmare."

I was already shaking my head. "No Mom, that wasn't just a dream. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't just a dream."


	20. Chapter 20

My dad was worried. I could feel it oozing off of him, and could see it in the sickly shade of yellow. I really didn't know what to do to make him feel better. To be perfectly honest I was a bit worried myself. That dark figure had practically vibrated with evil menace. There hadn't been anything at all nice about it. No matter how much I protested against it dad overruled me and called Prophet. I guess he felt it serious enough because he told dad he'd be along shortly.

I had almost convinced myself that it was just a dream. The only thing that kept me from making that final leap was the fact that in it I had my sight. In normal dreams I can't see. Ever. They're just like extensions of my normal life. It's never really bothered me; it's just the way it is.

It wasn't long before the doorbell rang, and my mom was calling me to join them in the living room. Mom and Prophet were already sitting down by the time I got in there; dad was obviously getting drinks or doing something in the kitchen.

"Hello Marina." Prophet addressed me gently.

"Hello Mr. Ramsey." I mumbled and sat down near my mom. Harley immediately dropped to the ground on top of my feet with a sigh.

"That's a great looking dog."

"He's a real sweetheart." My mom told him. "He was a gift to Marina from an admirer, and we just love him to pieces."

"I'm real sorry we bothered you Mr. Ramsey." I blurted out before I could think better of it.

I could tell he was looking at me. "There's no bother Marina. I promise you that. Your parents did the right thing in calling me." My dad came back into the room and handed Prophet and mom drinks. He made his way to me and handed me a mug which turned out to be hot cocoa. My dad is awesome. "Tell me the dream Marina."

Even though I couldn't see, I closed my eyes to close everything out so I could remember. "I was in a barren wasteland. There was nothing alive in it. Everything about it seemed wrong, and cold." I could see it vividly. "I was wearing what I've got on, and every time I moved the ground and whatever was on it crumbled underneath my feet. Everything was dead and flat and…colorless. It felt like there should be total silence, and at first there was, but then this horrible whispering began. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was almost like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere. I know that sounds stupid…"

"Not at all." Prophet murmured. His aura was turning yellowish.

"I could feel someone watching me, but I couldn't see them. I kept turning, looking, and there was nothing. Until the end…I just knew there was someone behind me. I turned and there it was." I shuddered with the memory.

"It?" my mother asked.

"I say it because I couldn't sense whether it was male or female…not like I normally can." I explained carefully. "There was no smell, no sound of footfalls, no curves. It was slightly taller than me and wore complete black."

Prophet leaned forward. "You could see in the dream?"

I nodded. "I never can you know…never…but in this one I could. The figure reached out for me. Almost as if to grab me." I shivered.

"This is very important Marina…I need you to describe the outfit the figure was wearing." Prophet's voice was intense.

"Black. Black gloves, black boots, black pants. The pants were form fitting, the top was sort of loose and buttoned down the front. The shirt was tucked into the pants and belted with a wide black belt, and a plain black belt buckle. It wore a mask, although I guess it was more like a hood since it covered its entire head, and it was a strange mesh-like material. I couldn't see any part of it that was uncovered. It was terrible, and I could feel it gazing at me. I could FEEL it, and I knew if it touched me then it would be bad…" My mom had moved closer and held me close to her. I don't know when, but sometime during my story I'd started crying. Harley let out a low whine and nuzzled my hands with his cold nose.

"Do you know what it is John?" my dad asked anxiously.

Prophet was silent for a moment. "Unfortunately, yes, I do. Several years ago there was a villain by the name of Fatality. Now, don't panic William, I can see it in your face that you are."

"I thought Fatality was killed." Dad's voice was tight with tension.

"He was, but his associate Bleak wasn't." Prophet sighed.

"Bleak?" I murmured. That was a stupid name.

"No where near as formidable as Fatality, but talented none the less. He can enter dreams and inspire fear and unease. He can drain good feelings and leave nothing but the negative behind. Bleak takes all good emotion and can turn it into something sad and depressed."

"Like you'll never be happy again." I murmured remembering how I felt in the dream. "Like nothing will ever be right again."

"Yes, exactly. As long as you realize it's a dream and fight it, you're fine, but Bleak is very good at making it seem real."

Every one sat silently for a moment, and I think all of us except for Prophet jumped when the doorbell rang. My mom squeezed my hand and went to answer it. A few moments later I heard the unmistakable sound of Layla giggling. She, mom, and Kimmie entered the room.

Layla stopped laughing as soon as she entered the room. "Oh…hi Mr. Ramsey." Her voice showed her shock.

"Kimmie, this is Mr. Ramsey, he's one of our teachers." I told my friend. She and Prophet shook hands.

"Interesting." Prophet murmured. "William, Vanessa, why don't we go to your study and leave the kids alone?"

As soon as they were out the door Layla was on me. "Okay spill?"

"That guy's your teacher? He's hot! Is that his power? Super hotness?" Kimmie added before realizing something was up. "What gives?"

It didn't take me long to explain my dream, and then we pondered my newest dilemma.


	21. Chapter 21

I tried to put the dream out of my mind. I mean, it wasn't like I could do anything about it right then anyway, ya know? So I went to school to work with my group and continue to build our super group. I could feel and see Warren's concern oozing off of him in bright yellow on the bus, but I really didn't know what I could do to make him less concerned. Maybe I shouldn't have told him about the dream? Oh right, I hadn't told him, Layla had told him, and he'd gotten angry that I hadn't told him. Notice the sarcasm? Boys are weird.

The day went by rather quickly to my surprise. We were to meet in the gym for the last hour of the school day and I was the first one there. I was standing stretching out for whatever Metalman had in store for us that day, which would be only God knows what, when I felt him. I don't know how long he'd been standing there before he spoke. "Hello Marina."

I turned and could see the faint gray aura that was Max standing in the doorway. It was the first time we'd really spoken since the dance. "Hello Max. How are you feeling?"

I could see his outline shrug. "My arm's pretty messed up, but they said it would be better real soon. I just have to keep it in this slimg for a while." he told me. "I'm real glad you didn't get seriously hurt."

"I've never had a chance to say thank you." I told him. "I've meant to. They've been keeping us pretty busy. I'm sorry for that; it's really no excuse. Thank you Max. For trying to tell me who was trying to hurt me, and especially for jumping in front of that blast from Deke. Nurse Spex thinks it would have hurt me really bad."

"I couldn't let him hurt you like that. Not while I could stop it." he told him gruffly.

"Max..."

"Please don't. I know you don't feel the way about me that I feel about you. I don't need you to tell me. I just wanted to see you. I should have told you about Steffi and Deke right away that night. I'd just found out when I'd come up to talk to you. Instead I got sidetracked by jealousy of seeing you and Peace together...and you...well, you looked so pretty."

"I appreciate that you were going to tell me at all." I murmured.

"Just because I don't like Peace and those others doesn't mean I wouldn't help you." He told me and it looked as if he turned to go. Then he turned back "Marina, I wasn't making it up when I said that there was something different about you. Forgive the pun, but there is a flicker of something in there that makes you different from those friends of yours. That something could easily have brought you to me instead of Peace. Maybe if I'd gotten there first. Something to keep in mind, Peace could've easily gone my way...still could." Then Max did turn and walk out the door.

I couldn't help but think of his words once he'd left. Was there something in me that could've gone the other way? Is it possible that if I had met Max first then I would be dating him and making fun of my friends? I don't want to think so. I can't think so. I mean, his aura made me sick from the beginning right? Every time he came near me...and he doesn't make me feel the way Warren makes me feel. Perhaps Max just wants to see something, so he does. That makes me sort of sad. I would never be friends with him, but he had sacrificed himself for me. It makes me wonder if there's a way Max could be turned back to the way my friends and I look at things. I would say I would work at it, like an experiment, but even I'm smart enough to know you don't mess with people's heads like that. Maybe I'll just try to make an effort to be nicer to Max. As for Warren turning to 'the dark side'...could it happen? Perhaps once, long ago, before Will and Layla came into his life, but honestly I don't think even before then. Warren never wanted to become what his father became. No, my Warren wouldn't turn, that's something I knew without a doubt.

The warmth washed over me as Warren wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. "Hey there gorgeous." he murmured in my ear. "What are you sitting here thinking about so hard?"

I turned and hugged him back. I'd been so deep in thought I hadn't felt him come up. "Honestly?"

"Of course."

"Max stopped by for a chat, and I was just thinking about the conversation."

A pale red had invaded Warren's happy blue and I sighed. "What did Von Schilne want?" he asked crankily.

"Warren, calm down. We just hadn't talked since the dance. I'm glad he came by. I got to thank him." I told him and leaned back. "I mean, I owed him at least that ya know? He did throw himself in front of me to take a Deke bomb."

"I guess." he muttered. He dropped a kiss on my lips and then stepped away.

Others were starting to enter and it wasn't long before I heard Winston's booming voice, and Bunny's soft laughter. Oh yes, another day of learning on its way.


	22. Chapter 22

**_A/N: Very short chapter. The next one will be longer. Promise. Thanks for all your feedback. Feedback is like manna from heaven. _**

That night when I lay down to go to sleep I must admit I was a bit apprehensive, but it didn't change the fact that I was beat. They'd worked us hard. Not only physically, but mentally as well. And let me just say, if they'd made me run another frigging lap, I'd have beat someone up...well, probably not, but I'd have seriously considered it. I fell into sleep quickly and suddenly I was there again; the dead field. I'd have figured there would be snow seeing as it was so cold, but there wasn't. Again I could see so clearly. It was actually quite amazing.

I looked around for awhile. I wanted to remember as much detail as possible...for several reasons actually. One, it was nice being able to see. Also, I could give Prophet more information if I remembered more. Guess that one was sort of a duh. I started moving forward and looking around. Really, besides the dead landscaping there was nothing extraordinary about where I was. It was all pretty generic.

Then the whispering came. At first I was afraid, and then I thought wait a minute, this is my dream. So, I held onto my nerves and kept looking around me. The whispering got louder and louder, and the sick malicious feeling became stronger and stronger. Then it was there. The figure. Bleak. Or, whom I assumed was Bleak due to Prophet. The figure stood staring at me. Again it reached out for me, but this time I didn't flinch. It was too far away to touch me; it couldn't reach me with that much space there could it? I still felt evil from it...reminded me of Max times a thousand, but this time...looking at it...I realized there was something different.

Yes, it was evil. Yes, it was reaching out towards me, but...not as if to grab me or touch me. No, the figure reached out to me as if begging for help. I stood my ground, the figure didn't move.

"You're not trying to hurt me." I stated simply, and the figure dropped it's arm. The whispering softened. "Are you? You would, if you could, but now you need something from me." I stated logically.

The figure seemed to stare at me and then nodded. Simple gesture really. Guess I expected more. Thoughts magically appearing in my head. The person talking to me...what a let down. So, I guess it was up to me to figure it out...like a game of charades. Great...the game the blind girl was NEVER meant to play.

"Okay then...Not trying to hurt me, need me to help you...not trying to hurt me, need me to help you.." I bounced on the heels of my feet and I could feel the frustration from the figure..."Look, I have to think about this. It's not like I'm psychic."

The figure sat down on the ground and propped its chin on its hand. Then just as I was about to say something else I was awakened by my alarm going off. Darn it. Time for school.


	23. Chapter 23

I was worried when I got on the bus the next morning. None of my friends were there. I took one of the empty seats and sat down with a frown. I would've thought if something was happening they, at least one of them, would have called me. I pretty much wavered between pouting and concern for the entire ride to school. When I got there I decided to go directly to the gym to see if I could find Prophet. While I was definitely worried and perhaps a bit miffed about my missing friends, I also knew there were other priorities I had to work on too. I decided that not only would I bring up Bleak to Prophet, I would see if he knew about my MIA supergroup…

The gym was pitch black. I frowned as I realized there were no lights on inside at all. Weird. This was actually starting to get a little creepy. I decided to use as much caution as possible and started to try to focus on the room. There, past the bleachers I could see a faint warm outline lying on the floor very still. I hurried to the figure to see who it was. Luckily I was probably one of the few people who could move unhindered through the darkness. Sort of used to it.

I'd made it halfway through the room when I felt the sinking in the pit of my stomach. I dropped into a crouch as someone's arm punched out to where my head had been. Practicing the self defense moves they'd been cramming down our throats, especially mine, for the past few weeks, I slammed my left leg out and tripped up the figure. I heard an 'oof', and the person fell. Unfortunately the person fell on top of me.

He, and I say he because the person was big, muscular, and did not have girl curves,; anyway, he landed on me and it hurt, but I was already reacting. I twisted and pushed out with both hands, catching my attacker in the throat. He gagged, and lashed out at me clipping me upside the head. Son of a gun that hurt. I managed to wedge my knees under his chest and pushed out with all my might. Somehow I managed to get him off of me.

He didn't stay down long and I felt a punch to the gut. My breath wheezed out of me and I was seriously starting to get pissed off. I decided to stop playing around. First I screamed out with my mind calling for help, and then I began to gather the force within me to create fire….

A shrill ringing began and I looked around not able to figure out where it was coming from. Everything melted away and suddenly I was standing there at the bus stop waiting for the bus that would take me to Sky High.

I must admit when it arrived I was a bit…unnerved. What the heck had just happened? A dream? I hadn't been sleeping. Was it a hallucination? I don't do drugs, and I'd been getting plenty of rest…I had no idea. I climbed aboard and immediately saw the outlines of my friends. I made my way down the aisle and took my seat next to Warren.

He instantly put his arm around me and I felt somewhat better. "You okay?" he asked with the concern evident in his tone.

"No." I told him honestly. "The strangest things have been happening the past few days, and I'm seriously confused."

My other friends turned to look at me. "What's going on sweetie?" Layla asked.

I explained to the group about the dream with Bleak, and then I explained about my whacked out delusion right before they'd picked me up. "I want to go see Prophet as soon as we get to school." I murmured.

Warren held me the whole ride, and I did feel a lot better and less confused by the time we got there. He might be gruff, and anti social, but he does some good holding too. It probably also really helps that we have this Feel-Good link between us too. The group of us headed directly to the gym, and I only hesitated a moment before opening the door and walking in.

Even blind I could tell that the gym was fully lit up and very bright. I could 'see' the outlines of Prophet, Bunny, and Metalman standing together. Their voices weren't loud, but it seemed they were talking about something they found humorous because their auras were bright blue, and Winston's loud guffaws would carry to us as we moved towards them.

"Marina needs help." Warren broke into their conversation bluntly.

"Warren!" I knew I was blushing. "They were talking."

I could feel Prophet smiling. "Don't worry Marina, Warren's just concerned for you. We can take a little bluntness from time to time." He assured me. "What seems to be the problem?"

Sighing I went through the whole story again, both of them, dealing with Bleak and the other thingy. I was starting to feel slightly parrot-like, and I was sure I would have to give the whole explanation to my parents later that evening. Prophet was frowning by the end of the storytelling. So was Winston. In fact out of all of us the only people not frowning were me and Bunny.

"That's interesting." She told me. "So, it would seem that Bleak needs help and has somehow tapped into your dreams to get help, and I would almost think the other thing is tied to it as well."

"You think Bleak attacked me?" Now I frowned. "I don't know, this person's body was bigger. And beating me up isn't going to get my help."

"No, no. I don't think Bleak attacked you, and I could be wrong, perhaps they aren't tied together…but, perhaps whoever has trapped Bleak has managed to find out Bleak has sought out help…you."

"Oh." Now my mouth snapped shut.

"That's freaky." Magenta stated simply.

"Well why come to Marina?" Warren snapped. "It's not like she's into helping bad guys! Why did this Bleak think she'd help?"

"Well, it isn't as if he has many options…How many other 'bad guys' are going to rescue another bad guy?" Winston offered.

"Good point." Will nodded.

"Look, if the dude is trapped, I don't mind helping. I mean, sure, he's evil, but if they are connected then that means that whoever took him is more evil. Otherwise I would have gotten a candygram, not attacked." I sighed. "So, how do we figure out how to save Bleak if he can't talk and how do we find out who took him…And how do we stop these daylight delusions, because I don't want to have another one."

"It's going to take some research, I'll get Tish on it immediately. I'll also contact Jeffrey and see if he can tell us anything." Prophet told everyone.

I raised my hand. "Um, who's Jeffrey."

Prophet was already walking away, but Bunny answered me. "He's another member of our team. Jeff is also known as Dreamscape. He astral projects and can manipulate dreams. Sometimes it's hard to remember you kids haven't met all of us." Bunny rolled closer. "We need to get to work. While Prophet is looking into that I want everyone to start off running ten laps around the gym. Then we'll do some mental practices."


	24. Chapter 24

"So, is Warren coming over tonight?" 

It had been a few days since the daytime delusion as I was calling it. So far nothing else had happened. I was stumping my brain trying to figure out how to help Bleak, but so far nothing had come to me. Prophet had told us he'd managed to contact Dreamscape and that man was on his way to Sky High. I guess he'd been in Tibet, or somewhere like that, so it would take a few days to get back to us. Layla had come home with me after school. Will had gone to a dentist appointment, and my parents were at a doctor appointment making sure everything was okay with the baby, so we'd decided to hang out for awhile. "Yeah, he gets off work at seven and said he'd come over right after."

"That's cool. At least he doesn't have to stay until they close."

We were currently in the backyard playing with Harley. He was getting so big. I still didn't know who'd gotten him for me, but he was the best gift ever, and he was super loyal to me. "Yeah, I hate it when he closes because I don't get to talk to him as much." I told her. "That sounds totally pathetic."

"No, just sounds like you're in love." Layla laughed.

Was I in love? I mean I knew I really liked Warren, and I was totally attracted to him, but was it love? I mean, I'm only sixteen. Of course, I guess sixteen year olds fall in and out of love all of the time. That would be the bad part though, I think. Falling out of love with Warren would suck. "Love seems like a serious thing. I'm in total like with Warren for sure." I told her.

Layla laughed again. "Please, seeing the two of you, it's so obvious. Don't worry though. He loves you too. No matter how gruff or crabby he seems, he's always over the moon when you show up."

I admit it, this thought did make me a little tingly. As tingly as his kisses. And boy did they tingle...sizzle...all that good stuff. Just thinking about it made my heart race. My attention was brought back to the present and I frowned as thunder rumbled. That's odd, there aren't supposed to be any storms tonight, or for the next few nights actually. Things were starting to sort of 'look' weird too.

"Marina? Something weird is going on." Layla's voice sounded tense. "The sky just darkened and it smells like rain...and something else I don't know. Do you think it's your Dad?"

I didn't know. I didn't think so. "I don't know. We'd better go inside Lay--" I didn't get to finish as the back glass door to my house burst into shards of glass and Layla screamed. My 'night-vision' effect was working and I could 'see' as a large form burst through heading straight for both of us. It was the same form from the delusion in the gym. That's when I noticed Harley wasn't in the backyard. We were in another delusion, but this time we were experiencing it together at the same time. The figure was coming straight for me and I ducked as a fist flew towards my head. It made me so glad I paid attention to everything they'd been teaching us.

I lashed out with a kick catching the figure in the shin and it grunted. "What does it look like Layla?" I cried out.

"It's a man covered from head to toe in black, and a black ski mask." she shouted. She'd moved up behind him and jumped on his back with an 'oof'.

The man flung her off his back onto the ground and I heard her gasp as the air whooshed from her body. "Hey dickhead!" I snapped, drawing the man's attention and punched him where I thought his face should be. I was close and actually hit him in the neck pretty hard. It caused him to stagger back a step.

"You're pissing me off little girl." the man growled. He sounded English, you know, like British, sort of like that Simon Cowell guy.

"That's too bad. Normally I get along well with others." I told him as I faced him in my fighting stance.

"Stay away from Bleak." he warned. "Stay out of business that's not yours to deal with; you and all your little friends."

"I don't know who you think you're dealing with dude, but we're heroes. Bleak came to me for help."

"You're a pretty girl, don't be a stupid one. Being a hero can get you killed. Ask your mentors what fate Fortuna suffered. Learn what being a hero can get you." he whispered and suddenly we were back in my backyard, me still in my fighting stance, and Layla on the ground on her back.

I moved to her quickly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good." she said a bit shakily. "That guy was major creepy."

"Do you think we should call..."

"Prophet? Uh yeah." she told me matter of fact.


	25. Chapter 25

I called Prophet. Thankfully he didn't feel the need to come over. He said he'd come over in the morning while I was at school and have a look around. While slightly surprised, I have to admit I was also really glad. I mean, I knew I'd have to tell my parents, but I didn't want to spend my whole evening bumming out about doom and gloom.

Mom called to say she and Dad were going to go to dinner and asked if I wanted to come. I told her no, that Warren was coming over. I told her about the delusion, and she freaked and said they'd come right home, but I told her not to. I assured her, several times, that since Layla was still there, and Warren would be coming over soon, I would be okay until they got home. She put Dad on the phone, for which I then had to reassure him a dozen times, but finally they agreed that if Warren was there I'd probably be safe enough. Then they assured me they wouldn't stay out too late, and told me to make sure Warren stuck around until they got home. Funny, Daddy was really starting to like the fact that I was dating Warren. You know, because every girl needs a big strong man to take care of them…gag me. Personally I thought that Layla and I had handled the jerk just fine. Of course I didn't mention that I had cursed. I was still slightly in shock over that. I know; can you believe it? Everything that's happening and I'm surprised I cursed. I just don't normally.

Anyway, I agreed to all the little rules they set and finally got them off the phone, and then Layla and I headed to my bedroom with Harley. She'd decided to play in my make up until Warren got there. Layla's idea of playing in my make up was using me as a mannequin head. "Hold still." She ordered for the umpteenth time.

"I am holding still."

"Marina, you're not holding still. You keep bouncing your right leg." She sighed.

I realized she was right and stopped instantly. She was after all working on my eyes, and I didn't want to end up looking weird…like I'd know either way. Well, Warren would tell me…right? Yeah, he'd tell me. "What time is it?"

"Seven."

That made me smile. Then I frowned. "Will never called."

She was busy using eyeliner on my eyes and her voice was soft as she spoke. "No, he contacted me mentally. I tell you what Marina; this telepathic link thing is amazing. I love it."

"It doesn't make you mad?" I asked hesitantly, finally voicing a fear I'd been holding onto. "That we're all tied together like this now? Because of me?"

Layla stilled. "No. It really doesn't. I mean, if I'd gotten stuck in a group with someone like Max, yeah, I'd probably be ticked off, but I didn't. I'm helping to build an amazing super group with my best friends. I've loved Will since I was like six years old, and the others have been my close friends since we were freshmen…and maybe you and I have only been friends for a few months, but I like to think of you as one of my best and closest friends."

I couldn't help but smile. "I feel that way too Layla. You're a great friend to have." Okay, I admit it, I had to blink away a tear.

"Stop getting me all mushy…" she laughed. "You're going to ruin your eye make up." The doorbell rang and we both stood up. "Looks like someone rushed to get here." She teased.

"Oh shut up." I grumbled good naturedly and moved quickly towards the front door. I could literally feel Warren on the other side. "Hi." I greeted him as I answered the door.

He stepped inside and threw his arm over my shoulder. "Hey." He told me softly then turned his attention to Layla. "Hey Hippie. How's it goin?"

I could 'see' her outline shrug as she responded. "Good. We've been having a good time. I swear that dog gets smarter and smarter every time I come over here." Harley had moved to Warren, plopped his haunches on the ground, and was holding up a paw for a shake.

"That's because he's a brilliant dog. Yes he is." Warren had turned his attention to the dog now and was fawning over him…uh huh, Warren sure is a task master. I keep remembering a claim that my dog might be vicious…yep I saw it more and more every day.

"Did you tell him?" Layla asked me.

"I hadn't gotten a chance to yet." I pointed out.

Warren stood and his aura began to show concern. "Tell me what? What's happened?"

We moved into the family room and it didn't take long to explain what had happened in the backyard earlier in the night. Then I explained that my Dad had asked that Warren stick around until my parents got home, to which he immediately agreed. Layla mom showed up to take her home. I finally had a chance to sit down, alone, with my boyfriend.

It felt really nice to sit there cuddled up against him with his arms wrapped around me. It made me think of Layla's earlier comments about the L word. Is this how Mom felt when Dad held her? Was I overthinking this?

Warren speaking broke me out of my thoughts. "I'm really worried about this guy Marina."

"I know you are. Your aura tells me you are." I remind him softly. "I don't know what to say to make you feel better. I'm worried too."

"In these illusions, or whatever they are, can you read his aura?"

I thought about that. Odd, I hadn't thought about it before. "No, I can't. You know what? I can't read Bleak's aura either. I mean I felt the hostility from Bleak, but I couldn't see any colors surrounding him like I can see them when I'm awake."

Warren was quiet for a few minutes. He was thinking so I just cuddled closer and let him think. "And Prophet is gonna come over tomorrow morning and take a look around?"

"Yes."

"Good." He seemed relieved with that answer and reached up and tugged at a lock of my hair. I looked up towards his face. Glad I did. His lips met mine as soon as they could.

At first the kiss was very gentle. That type always surprises me. Warren doesn't strike me, or probably anyone else, as a gentle person, but sometimes when he kisses me it's like he's saving that just for me. I deepened the kiss and moved to place my hands on either side of his face. It put me in a position where I was kneeling on the couch, and I was glad I'd taken my shoes off. His hair was still pulled back from work, and there was a whiskery feel to his cheeks that I enjoyed feeling. His hands moved to wrap around my waist and they tickled my sides a little as they moved past.

"You make me breathless." I told him as I pulled slightly away.

He grinned and moved in for another kiss. I pushed him backwards until he was lying on the couch, and I was on top of him. Warren's hands fisted in my shirt and I began to move my hands over his arms feeling the definition in his biceps. My heart was racing and my breathing was speeding up, and he was right there with me. This was really our normal make out routine, I mean just the kissing, we really hadn't moved into anything else. But I wanted more. Was that wrong? Was I too young? I don't know, but right then I didn't care either. Warren made me feel things; beautiful and powerful things.

Keeping my mouth on his, I moved one of my hands down to the edge of his shirt and then pushed up under it. Wow, nice abs. I began to explore his stomach, side, and up his chest. The only time I'd ever felt so much of his bare flesh had been when he'd been shirtless after gym and he'd kissed me. This was different and I liked it…a lot. Now his hands were moving. They were up and under the back of my shirt and his hands were warm and slightly rough. That certain something between us had kicked in and we were glowing bright enough to light the dimly lit room. I could actually see the brightness behind my eyelids. I really didn't dwell on it. His hands were roaming all over my body now, and his mouth had moved down my chin to my neck. He found this one spot above my collarbone that made everything zing.

"I want you to take…" Well, I was about to say take off your shirt, but that was interrupted by the sound of the garage door going up. Oh gee, my parents are home.


	26. Chapter 26

We were presentable, and appeared to be listening to music by the time my parents got into the house. They were laughing.

"Hi Sweetheart, Hi Warren, how are you doing?" My Mom asked as they entered the family room.

"I'm good Mrs. O'Connor. How are you? And the baby?"

This pleased my Mom, I could tell. "We're doing fabulous. Thank you for asking."

"Yall are home early." I commented, hoping I didn't sound sulky.

"Actually, we decided to come check on you before going to dinner." My Dad informed me as he placed his arm around Mom's waist. They were both shining such a deep blue. "We went shopping after the appointment, and got stuff for the baby. We just wanted to make sure our little girl was okay." His voice was a bit gruff.

"I'm okay. I promise. The baby's pretty hungry though." I wasn't lying. Mom's belly was blue, but it was a little off and pulsing, which told me it was needing something. Darn, I was getting good at this.

"Glad to see you here Warren." My Dad had moved forward and shaken my boyfriend's hand.

"Thank you sir." Warren still seemed surprised that my parent's accepted his role in my life. Heck, they even really liked him. "If I'd known about the thing I'd have left work earlier." His voice was full of reproach, and I could tell it was directed towards me. Whatever.

"Layla and I took care of it." I said for what seemed like the gazillionth time. "I'm better than okay, and Prophet and Dreamscape are going to look further into it." I wonder if this overprotective compulsion is a man thing?

"Next time just call me." Warren stated in an extremely serious tone…a tone that told me it was best to just agree at this point and skip an argument.

"Well, now that we know you're really okay, we're going to go to dinner." My Mom was hiding her smile, and I could tell she was both amused and touched by Warren's concern. "Are you kids hungry?"

"I ate at work, thanks though Mrs. O'Connor." Warren responded.

"Layla and I ate earlier Mom."

Both my Mom and Dad gave me kisses, Dad shook Warren's hand again, and Mom hugged him, and then they left. Excellent.

Warren was quiet next to me…but not for long. "I'm serious Marina, you need to contact me. I want to be here if you need something, or if anything like that happens again. You have no idea how scared it makes me to know this shit is happening to you."

I honestly think he would have kept going, but I was still stuck on what had been happening before my parents showed up, so before he could speak again I smashed my lips into his. He was surprised for all of about three seconds before he was groaning and kissing me back. That was much more like it. I decided to skip ahead to the part of the program we're pressed pause at, and I tugged his shirt up and off of him in a rather smooth move if I do say so myself.

Oh yeah, this was awesome. His skin was hot to the touch, and both smooth and hard under my fingers and palms. The boy was muscular, and I was gleeful that he was all mine. Warren managed to flip me to where I lay on my back on the couch, and now he leaned over me. Wow, that was a punch to my libido. Maybe the whole male dominance thing isn't so bad. His hand had moved to my midriff where the edge of my shirt met my shorts. He slid his hand along my belly making it quiver, and then he slid his palm up and under the top. It was my turn to moan as he cupped my breast over my bra. Boy was I glad I'd worn a pretty one…not that I'd been expecting this or anything.

"Take off my top Warren." I whispered.

He stilled. "Are you sure Marina?"

"Beyond sure." I promised. Slowly he did so, and then I heard him draw in a shaky breath. "Is it okay?"

He laughed a bit dryly. "Oh Baby, it is far surpassing of okay." His voice was hoarse, and his hand trembled as he ran it over my now almost bare flesh. The only clothing up top being the bra. "God, do you know how beautiful you are? How perfect you are?"

I smiled widely. "Really?"

"I wouldn't lie to you." he whispered and his mouth was mere centimeters away from mine. "Every time I see you I can't help to wonder how someone as stunning as you ended up with me. You're the best thing to ever happen to me…I think you got the short end of the stick."

"Not possible." I told him and tried to meet his gaze. The aura and night vision ability made it somewhat possible. "I'm the lucky one. You're amazing." Then before he could speak again I kissed him. I love talking to Warren, but right now I wanted this more.

His hands were molding my flesh of my back and sides, and his hands would occasionally stroke over my chest. Warren moved his mouth from mine and trailed it down my neck, over my clavicle and directly to my left, lace covered breast. He latched onto the fabric covered nipple, and ran his fingertips over the right one. The sensation surged through me and I cried out and ground my pelvis up against his. Oh My Gosh. I normally didn't get to touch that area of his body a lot, but he was rock hard, and from the amount of rock-hardness that there was I had a feeling that Warren could definitely be the lead character in a romance book. Was it wrong that I was enjoying this…a lot? If so I guess I was wrong. I was quickly losing the ability to think and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he ground his jean clad pelvis into my denim shorts covered center.

His hand left my right breast and traveled down my side and then down my leg. I think my heart stopped briefly in excitement as his hand moved to my inner thigh, and then up under my shorts. All he did though was run his long fingers along the top of the inside of my thigh. So close to that area where I was feeling all kinds of crazy things, but not close enough. I wasn't sure if I should be glad or if I should be mad. Warren's hips were moving back and forth very slightly, and I have to say I was impressed with his will power, because at this point I was all about the getting naked.

'We gotta stop.' He didn't say it out loud, but I heard him in my mind. 'We gotta stop Baby.'

I admit it, I moaned and pressed into him. "Why?" I whispered.

He whimpered a bit. "Because if we keep going like this pretty quick I won't be able to stop, and you deserve better than doing this on the couch in your family room." He was extremely still except for an occasional shudder as he tried to get himself under control.

I sighed. "Okay…but Warren, I want you…I want to be with you. I know we're young, but…right now I could care less."

"I know." he murmured. "But I don't ever want you to have regrets for being with me Marina, and right now I just think we should slow down…for tonight."

"For tonight." I agreed.


End file.
